Cowan Among 4 Breeders’ Cup Runners Nominated to Remington Springboard Mile

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s Cowan is among the 4 runners exiting a Breeders’ Cup World Championships race who are nominated to the $200,000 Springboard Mile Stakes, scheduled for December 18 at Remington Park.

The Springboard Mile, which received 35 total nominations at time of close, is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) series of prep races and awards points to the top four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 basis.

Having won this race 6 times since its inception in 2001, Asmussen’s aim for lucky number 7 starts with Cowan, who won his debut over the Churchill Downs dirt in May but made a name for himself once he switched to turf. A third-place finish in the Bal a Bali Juvenile Turf Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs begat runner-up efforts at Keeneland in the Indian Summer Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2).

Asmussen, who leads the nation’s trainers in earnings with over $19.5 million through December 8, also nominated Saffa’s Day, a stylish debut winner at Keeneland in October, and the maiden Run Fast, who was second by 3/4 of a length in a local 5 1/2-furlong sprint on November 20.

Just behind Asmussen in the earnings column is Brad Cox, who nominated five as he seeks his first Springboard Mile title. Chief among them is Caddo River, who exits an eye-popping 9 1/2-length maiden-breaking effort going 1 mile at Churchill Downs and finished as the sixth single-entry betting option in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

Cox, who won 4 Breeders’ Cup races during the two-day event, also nominated Inspector Frost and Swill (who finished ninth and fourth, respectively, in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes [G2]) and debut winners Gagetown and Joe Frazier.

Other Breeders’ Cup triers nominated to the Springboard Mile are Outadore, third in the Juvenile Turf (G1) for trainer Wesley Ward; Sittin On Go, ninth in the Juvenile (G1) for Dale Romans; and Camp Hope, 12th in the Juvenile for Kenny McPeek.

Game Day Play and Red N Wild, the top two finishers of the Clever Trevor Stakes (the local prep for the Springboard Mile), are among those based at Remington Park nominated for the meet’s biggest race. Game Day Play was a head victor in the 7-furlong event for trainer Bret Calhoun, who won the 2010 and 2013 editions.

Oklahoma native Number One Dude is undefeated through 3 career starts, including a 6-length score over this course and distance in the Don McNeil Stakes last time out for trainer Kari Craddock. Debut winner Sound the Charge appears on the nominations list for Donnie Von Hemel, who saddled the 2006 winner when the event was still known as the MEC Mile.

The Springboard Mile headlines the closing day of the 2020 Remington Park meet on a card that includes five additional stakes.

The full list of nominations for the Springboard Mile and their Past Performances can be viewed here (courtesy of Equibase): https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-RP-20201218-564846