Remington Park's first set of schooling races will take place on February 11 and 12.

© StallioneSearch

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK– FEBRUARY 9, 2026–The first training races of the upcoming Remington Park American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season will take place this week. There are 63 horses scheduled to run on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and 65 horses entered Thursday with the same starting time.

Nine races were drawn for each day and three-time defending champion trainer Dee Keener didn’t let the stall doors on his stable stay shut long, emptying the barn for these two days. Keener has entered 14 horses each day for a total of 28, prepping for the first starts of their careers. The next most of any trainer is Clint Crawford with 13 entered for the two days.

The only other conditioners who will send out double-figures in horse totals for Wednesday and Thursday are Leo Alcala (12), Matt Whitekiller (10) and Jed Vane (10). Sixteen other trainers have entered for the schooling races with less than 10 running from each of those barns.

Keener’s barn is jumping and ready to go, searching for that fourth training title in a row at Remington Park for the Inola, Okla., native.

“I have some really good 2-year-olds that have been working well on the farm,” Keener, 59, said.

His three titles in a row is well short of the record set by Rodney Reed when the late top trainer here won the trophy for nine consecutive years from 1995-2003.

Keener set a meet record when he won his third training title in a row last year with 54 winners. He needed two victories on Champions Night, Saturday, May 31, 2025, to pass Eddie Willis, who had the record at 53.

Keener solved the problem in a hurry on that night, winning the first race of the evening with Vesper Martini in the Grade 1, $20,000 Speedhorse Graham Paint and Appaloosa Stakes and then established a new record by winning the second race with JC Speeding, a double-registered Quarter Horse/Paint. Keener finished 26 wins ahead of runner-up Matt Whitekiller in the trainers’ race.

Many of Remington Park’s top jockeys are named to ride in the training races this week, including Juan Pulido, Francisco Calderon, James Flores, Roman Cruz, Mario Delgado and Cody Smith.

Pulido won last year’s jockeys’ race for the riding title with 67 wins, well ahead of runner-up Calderon at 43 victories. In comparison to Pulido’s first riding title here in 2021, he had only 46 trips to the winner’s circle that year. Pulido’s 67 wins last year were the most since G.R. Carter’s 68 in 2014.

Training, or schooling, races are used by many trainers to gain approval by Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission stewards for 2-year-olds to make their first pari-mutuel attempt. All training races at Remington Park are contested at 250 yards.

The Remington Park stables continues to grow in equine population with 601 horses on the grounds as of Monday morning.

The 2026 Spring Season begins March 5 and continues through May 30.

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE UPDATES
Results for the schooling races will be available on StallioneSearch.com. SIGN UP for email updates to receive schooling race results and additional industry information.

ENTRIES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE
A program for the entries on February 11-12, which includes details on sires, dams, owners, trainers, jockeys, and summer sale prices where applicable, is available HERE. Please note that information regarding Paint and Appaloosa sires and dams was not available at the time of publication. Check back here for updates as they become available.

ABOUT REMINGTON PARK
Remington Park has provided more than $407 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. The 2026 Remington Park American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season begins March 5. Remington Park presents year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. Guests must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or to enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

***************

Would you like more industry news, including all schooling race results, delivered directly to your inbox? Click here to sign up.