JOCKEY CRISTIAN ESQUEDA WINS BOYD MORRIS MEMORIAL STAKES FOR SECOND TIME IN PAST THREE YEARS, THIS TIME WITH PEVS CHARLEY

by Richard Linihan

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – May 25, 2024 – Jockey Cristian Esqueda has made a pretty good living off the $68,000 Boyd Memorial Stakes at Remington Park the past three years. He has won this stakes race twice in the period, this year with Pevs Charley.

Winning a stakes after being laid off for an entire year is quite an accomplishment, but that’s just what Pevs Charley did on Saturday night. The 5-year-old gelded son of One Fabulous Eagle, out of the Okey Dokey Dale mare Miss Okey Dokey Zevi, cruised to the easy win in the Boyd Morris Memorial by a full two lengths as the 4-5 favorite.

Pevs Charley had run third in the 2022 Remington Park Derby as a 3-year-old, but after running in the Heritage Place Derby trials that year, he was laid off in 2023 and never had an official race his entire 4-year-old season.

“The owner (Alfredo Salazar Perez of Rifle, Colo.) wanted to give him some rest and then we brought him back to Sunland Park (in New Mexico) this year,” said trainer Gerardo Quinonez. “He really ran well tonight and we thought he would after his West Texas Maturity finish.”

The Grade 3, $108,000 West Texas Maturity was run at Sunland Park on March 31 this year and he ran second, losing by only a neck. Pevs Charley earned $39,000 from the purse and improved to 13 starts, five wins, five seconds and one third with earnings of $159,026. He was bred in Oklahoma by Gordon Pevehouse.

Esqueda also won this race in 2022 with JK Wildcat Red for trainer Jerry Livingston and owner Regina Laymon.

“It’s been awhile since I’d seen him (2022),” Esqueda said of Pevs Charley. “But I remember he doesn’t let me down ever. I knew he had a big run in him tonight and I was very confident.”

Pevs Charley paid $3.80 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.10 to show. San Lorenzo Ivory (2-1) was the runner-up, three-quarters of a length ahead of third-place finisher Defours (6-1). The rest of the finish was Glamazon (32-1) fourth, Relentless Okie (15-1) fifth, Wieburg (51-1) sixth, Two Four Going Hot (8-1) seventh and O Seeyalater (21-1) eighth.

Running time for the winner at 400 yards in :19.807 for a speed-index of 90 over the fast track.

This was the first win in the Boyd Morris Memorial for Perez and Quinonez.

The Boyd Morris Memorial is named after the famed Quarter Horse jockey who won the 1964 All American Futurity on Decketta. The Blanchard, Okla. native went on to be a prominent trainer of both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds once his successful riding career ended. He was a mainstay from the beginning at Remington Park prior to his passing in 1998.

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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 Remington Park 2024 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season continues through June 1 with the biggest racing program of the season. The Champions Night boasts total purses in excess of $2,000,000, led by the $1,000,000 Heritage Place Futurity. Parking and admission are always free. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.