The $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile at Remington Park has produced some memorable results in recent years, including $30-plus winners Long Range Toddy ($39.20) in 2018 and Wildatlanticstorm in 2022 ($32). The race also helped in 2020 launch the career of $12.9 million career earner Senor Buscador.

Typically, this two-turn mile race is a fun handicapping puzzle featuring a handful of local standouts facing 2-year-old shippers from Kentucky, California, and other major circuits seeking to bank significant purse earnings and Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve qualifying points at the Oklahoma City track.

Speed King (Coady Media)

This year’s edition indeed attracted fast Churchill Downs debut winner #3 Speed King for trainer Ron Moquett as well as recent maiden winner #9 Dr Ruben M from Doug O’Neill’s Southern California barn. Mix in a trio from Hall of fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s wide-ranging operation and plenty of local talent and you have another intriguing edition of the Springboard Mile on tap for Friday night with a 11:26 p.m. ET/10:26 p.m. CT post time.

Speed King is the lukewarm 7-2 favorite on the morning line, but I expect him to be bet down below that based on a field-best 93 Equibase Speed Figure and 82 Beyer Speed Figure, the latter six points better than anyone in the field. The gray or roan colt by Volatile earned the fast figures for a front-running 2 ¼-length victory in his first career start Nov. 1 at Churchill in a three-quarter-mile sprint. His dam (mother) won multiple races at a mile or longer, so I believe he can handle the added distance, but the last pacesetter to win the Springboard Mile was Cool Arrow in 2016. 

Speed King a major player here, but I would be loath to take 2-1 or 9-5 odds to win on a colt stretching out in distance, shipping in from Kentucky, trying stakes competition for the first time, and trying to lead from start to finish. Plus, Dr Ruben M (6-1, morning line) has set the pace in three of his four starts, so there is a chance the pace could be swift.

#7 Jolly Samurai (4-1) is 3-for-3 with a pair of stakes wins from off the pace for trainer Danny Pish, #11 Mister Omaha (5-1) has posted three straight dominant wins against Oklahoma-breds and gets a class test here, and #8 Complex Music (8-1) enters off an eight-length runaway allowance win for trainer Steve Asmussen Oct. 22 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Asmussen has won this race a record seven times, including four of the last 10.

Of the three, I prefer Mister Omaha after Oklahoma-bred stakes wins by 5 ½ lengths in the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile Stakes and by five lengths in the Don C. McNeill Stakes, both at Remington and the latter at this one-mile distance.

Another entrant that caught my eye was #4 Dominant Spirit (15-1) for trainer Bret Calhoun, who won the Springboard Mile in 2010 with Grant Jack and in 2013 with Louies Flower. The Mohaymen gelding won his debut by 4 ¾ lengths going five furlongs here at Remington Sept. 12 then rallied to the lead in the stretch of the seven-furlong Clever Trevor Stakes Oct. 25 before giving way grudgingly to Jolly Samurai late in a runner-up finish. I think that’s a race he can build upon with seven weeks of rest and a trainer-jockey tandem in Calhoun and Jose Alvarez that clicks at 25% with a solid return on investment.

My plan here is to focus on the exacta using Mister Omaha, Dominant Spirit, and Speed King. On raceday, I’ll keep an eye on the odds and strongly consider a win bet on Mister Omaha or Dominant Spirit if the price is right.

Betting Strategy on a $12 Budget

$2 exacta box: 3,4,11 ($12)

What to say at the betting window: Remington Park, Race 12, $2 exacta box, 3,4,11

Betting Strategy on a $30 Budget

$5 exacta box: 3,4,11 ($30)

What to say at the betting window: Remington Park, Race 12, $5 exacta box, 3,4,11