2023 Oklahoma Derby Preview & FREE Picks | Hit Show Favored To Give Brad Cox 4th Race Win

Aaron previews the 2023 Oklahoma Derby (G3) from Remington Park, then gives his top picks & long shots from the field of 13 3-year-old males.

Hit Show is favored to win his 1st start since the 2023 Withers Stakes (G3), but is he talented enough to give trainer Brad Cox his 4th win in this race? Tell us YOUR thoughts in the Comments section!

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The press release:

One of the largest fields in Oklahoma Derby history was compiled this morning by the Remington Park racing office. A total of 13 drew into the Grade 3, $400,000 race, the headline event of 10 on a special Sunday, Sept. 24 program.

The field of 13 is the largest for the Oklahoma Derby since 14 started in the 1-1/8 miles race in 2014.

The Oklahoma Derby is the 10^th and grand finale on the Sept. 24 card with a scheduled post of 7:48pm.

Hit Show has been made the morning-line favorite at 3-1 odds and will leave the gate from the outside post position 13. Trained by Brad Cox, Flavien Prat will ride.

Cox is seeking his fourth win in the Oklahoma Derby. He won three straight from 2019-2021 with Owendale, Shared Sense and Warrant. Prat seeks his first win in the race.

Owned and bred by Gary and Mary West of Omaha, Neb., Hit Show won the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct on Feb. 11 before running second in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in April. He eventually finished fifth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and then fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Hit Show most recently was fifth in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes in July at Saratoga in upstate New York.

Grade 3 West Virginia Derby winner Red Route One is the second morning-line favorite at 7-2 odds. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario will ride. The colt by Gun Runner, owned and bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds of Las Vegas, was second in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. in February. Red Route One was fourth in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes and then eighth in the Belmont Stakes before scoring in West Virginia.

Red Route One competed in the Grade 3 Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs at 1-5/16 miles over turf, finishing eighth in his most recent start on Sept. 3.

Asmussen seeks his second Oklahoma Derby victory, winning previously in 2017 with Untrapped. Rosario has won the race twice before with Pleasant Prince (2010) and Warrant (2021).

The field for the Oklahoma Derby, by program and post position, with jockey, trainer and morning-line odds:

1. Ghost Hero: Floyd Wethey, Jr., Jayde Gelner, 20-1
2. Tumbarumba: Rafael Bejarano, Brian Lynch, 6-1
3. Raise Cain: no jockey named, Ben Colebrook, 5-1
4. Cagliostro: Cristian Torres, Cherie DeVaux, 8-1
5. Heroic Move: Harry Hernandez, Robertino Diodoro, 20-1
6. Gunflash: Luis Fuentes, Karl Broberg, 30-1
7. West Coast Cowboy: Tyler Conner, Saffie Joseph, Jr., 8-1
8. Pearl’s Earl: Jose Medina, Eric Snodgrass, 99-1
9. How Did He Do That: Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen, 20-1
10. Red Route One: Joel Rosario, Steve Asmussen, 7-2
11. Grove Land: no jockey named, Eoin Harty, 15-1
12. Mor Lana Spirit; Leandro Goncalves, Kari Craddock, 30-1
13. Hit Show: Flavien Prat, Brad Cox, 3-1