JESS GOOD WINE KEEPS WINNING STREAK GOING AT FOUR WITH WIN IN DEBBIE SCHAUF REMINGTON PARK CHAMPIONSHIP

by Richard Linihan

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – June 3, 2024 – Jess Good Wine ran his winning streak to four races in a row and six of his last seven starts, taking down the Grade 1, $256,400 Debbie Schauf Remington Park Championship on Saturday under jockey Bryan Candanosa.

Candanosa has been in the saddle for every one of those wins for trainer Toby Keeton, but none bigger than the Debbie Schauf. Jess Good Wine, a 4-year-old gelding by Good Reason SA, out of the Mr Jess Perry mare Mr Perrys Wine, earned $154,530 for owner Guns Up Racing of Lubbock, Texas. He improved his record to 17 starts, nine wins, five seconds and one third for a bankroll of $579,413. That’s is not a bad deal for a horse that sold for $35,000 at the Heritage Place Mixed Sale in 2021.

“He left there (from the gate) phenomenal tonight,” said Candanosa. “He didn’t break in or out. I had a lot of horse underneath me at that point. Toby Keeton and the barn have really put in a lot of miles with this horse and been through some blood, sweat and tears with him. They deserve all this.”

Jess Good Wine (even-money favorite) finished first in this 440-yard race for American Quarter Horses 3-years-old and older by a head to hard-luck runner-up Flash Bak (2-1). Flash Bak won the $750,000 Champion of Champions Stakes at Los Alamitos in California on Dec. 9, 2023, beating some of the top older horses in the country, including Empressum and A Tres of Eagle. He broke poorly in the Debbie Schauf in seventh, but quickly began to gobble up ground, narrowly losing in the end.

It was the second win in the series for Keeton, who had won the Remington Park Championship in 2010 with Jess You and I.

In his current winning streak, Jess Good Wine tallied in the Sooner State Stakes and Mr Jet Moore Stakes at Remington Park this meet, both for Oklahoma-breds. He also won  the $100,000 Hobbs American Derby at Zia Park in New Mexico on Dec. 17, 2023. He remained undefeated at Remington Park with his three stakes wins here.

“I knew this horse would be running to me at the end,” Keeton said. “But I was sure glad when the wire came.”

Keeton wasn’t happy with his stakes winner in his previous two starts despite Jess Good Wine scoring in those black type events.

“Tonight was really the first time he has run at this meet,” Keeton said. “He didn’t really have his mind on business in those other two.”

Jess Good Wine covered the 440 yards in :21.201 over a fast track for a phenomenal 109 speed index, but was still well off the stakes record of :20.772 in 2018 when the champion Jessies First Down was the winner. Tonight’s Debbie Schauf was so deep with talent that the fifth-place finisher scored a 102 speed-index.

The rest of the order of finish past the top two was Hooked N Gone (24-1) third, Apollitical Payoff (15-1) fourth, A Tres of Eagle (9-1) fifth, A Legacy of Tales (55-1) sixth, One Stolin Eagle (40-1) seventh, Take a Swig of This (35-1) eighth, Konnan Cartel (9-1) ninth and The Swamp (15-1) 10^th when he decided to stay in the gate for virtually the entire race, enjoying the scenery.

This was the first win in the Debbie Schauf Remington Park Championship for owners Guns Up Racing and jockey Candanosa.

The Remington Park Championship, the top race for older American Quarter Horses locally, was renamed the Debbie Schauf Remington Park Championship in 2020 in honor of the late executive director of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association.

•••••

Remington Park has provided more than $349 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season will begin on August 16. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.