Untrapped Overtakes Battle of Midway, Wins G3 Oklahoma Derby

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Michael Langford’s Untrapped closed with a rush from midpack and powered to the front late to overtake Battle of Midway and win Sunday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby from Remington Park.

Up close early after breaking cleanly from post 5 under Ricardo Santana, Jr., Untrapped settled on the backstretch while Gato Del Oro posted initial fractions of :23.90, :47.54, and 1:11.45. Forced to wait for racing room exiting the far turn, Untrapped angled out three-wide in the stretch as Battle of Midway took command up front, then used the clear lane to begin a rally. The hard-knocking 3-year-old son of Trappe Shot shot past Battle of Midway for the lead in the final furlong and crossed first by 1 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:48.62 for the 1 1/8-mile dirt event, just .62 of a second off the stakes record.

“He just seemed to be a different horse tonight,” said Santana, Jr. “I really had a lot of faith in him and we had a perfect trip.”

Gato Del Oro faded late but was able to hold onto third, finishing a length in front of Colonelsdarktemper, who was a head past a late-moving Girvin at the wire. Altito, McCormick, and B Squared completed the order of finish.

The win pushed Untrapped’s career earnings to $601,755 with a record of 10-2-3-3. It was the fourth victory (all stakes) on the day for both Santana, Jr., and Asmussen. It was also Asmussen’s first-ever Oklahoma Derby victory in 21 prior attempts.

“Yeah, it really is hard to believe, isn’t it?” Asmussen said with a laugh. “Well, we ran a lot of seconds and thirds, and this is a tough, tough race.”

Untrapped returned $24.60 to win, $7.80 to place, and $4.80 to show. Battle of Midway brought back $2.80 to place and $2.40 to show, while Gato Del Oro paid $3.60 to show.