Fabulous Rachel (#2), under jockey Juan Pulido, winning the Grade 1 Junos Request Stakes on Saturday at Remington Park.

© Dustin Orona Photography/Remington Park

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK–JUNE 3, 2023–The Champions’ Night crowd on Saturday at Remington Park saw nothing but pink flying down the track in the Grade 1, $119,120 Junos Request Stakes but when all was said and done, it was Fabulous Rachel who had her connections in the pink as the winner.

She outlasted the other fillies and mares for 400 yards by a neck in the race dedicated to cancer survivors with all the competitors dressed to the nines in pink saddle cloths and the jockeys in pink silks.

It Fabulous Rachel and jockey Juan Pulido that hit the finish line first as the 9-2 fourth-favorite in the field, defeating runner-up A Dream to Fill, trained by the top conditioner of the meet Dee Keener. This time it was the top win-percentage trainer, Waylan Melton who finished on top. Coming into Saturday’s races, Melton’s horses had won at a 33 percent clip, 20 winners from 61 starts.

''No, I wasn’t worried,'' said Pulido despite winning by less than a length. ''She was pretty sure she knew what she was doing. I just let her run.''

Melton had a different outlook on the situation.

''Unlike Juan, I was really nervous right there at the wire,'' Melton said with a laugh.

Fabulous Rachel, a 4-year-old mare by One Fabulous Eagle, out of the Teller Cartel mare Teller Baja, caught front-running A Dream to Fill (25-1) in the last 100 yards and held on for the win. A Dream to Fill was a half-length ahead of third-place finisher Pops First Lady, the 2-1 betting favorite.

Fabulous Rachel paid $11.40 to win, $6 to place and $4 to show. She earned $71,730 for owner Darling Farms of Lamont, Okla., and padded her record to eight starts, four wins, and two seconds, more than doubling her lifetime earnings to $139,564. She was bred in Oklahoma by Juan Medina.

Earlier in the meet Fabulous Rachel had shown some promise getting beaten only a neck in the $50,000 Decketta Stakes, won by Sassalitical on March 25. Sassalitical, a multiple stakes winner this meet, could only beat two horses in this field of 10 as the 3-1 second favorite.

Running time for Fabulous Rachel at 400 yards on a fast track was :19.350 for a speed index of 103. A Dream To Fill also scored a three-figure speed number at 102.

A Dream To Fill, piloted by Jesus Salazar fired out of the gates but was outdueled by a neck for second. Trained by Dee Keener, the daughter of Apollitical Jess' first two wins came just last month at Remington Park. The $23,910 check for runner-up increases her lifetime earnings to $85,909.

Owners J. Garvan Kelly and J. Lloyd Yother own bred A Dream to Fill in partnership with Nancy Yearsley. The three-year-old filly is out of Answer The Dream, by Tres Seis.

Trainer Robi Meche saddled jockey Edwin Escobedo aboard third place finisher Pops First Lady. The four-year-old daughter of Apollitical Jess has lit the board 14 of 19 starts with six wins and $307,443 in career earnings. 

Breeders Gary Kurz and Double M Racing, LLC sold Pops First Lady for $30,000 in the 2019 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. Now owned by Ruse Ranch, LLC, the Texas-bred mare is out of Shazooms Pop Pop, by Shazoom.

Rounding out the order of finish is Jess Give Mea Reason, Jess Special Folly V, Sweet Dash Fire, Jessapolliticalgirl, Sassalitical, Sweet Brown Sugar and Glamazon.

The Junos Request Stakes is for fillies and mares, 3 and older. The race is named for multiple Remington Park seasonal champion Junos Request who won the 1992 Remington Park Championship in a year where she was eventually voted the American Quarter Horse Association’s Champion Aged Mare.

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Tracked by more than 172,000 fans on Facebook and 10,700 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $316 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 features the 2023 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa season through June 3. Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.