Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs
CLAREMORE, Okla. – Fall racing returns to Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs for a fourth consecutive year. With the races comes the arrival of some of the top American Quarter Horse competitors contending for the lead position in high-paying races to be held on the grounds.
Will Rogers Downs is featuring 29 days of quarter horse, Appaloosa and Paint races through Nov. 9. Live racing starts at noon every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are 12 races a day scheduled.
The meet begins on Aug. 24 with a non-pari-mutuel day highlighting trials for the Kansas Jackpot Futurity and Black Gold 330 yard Futurity.
The top 10 qualifiers for each Aug. 24 trial race will be part of the race cards for Sept. 7, when the $100,000 guaranteed Black Gold Division II Futurity Finals and the $37,740 added Kansas Jackpot Futurity Finals will be held.
Returning this year is Wicked Courage, owned by Andrew T. Smith and trained by Luis Villafranco. Sired by Captain Courage and bred in Texas by Burnett Ranches, the horse is currently the nation’s No. 1 money-earner, with more than $1 million in career earnings.
“We are very excited to have Wicked Courage return at some point this fall,” said Jesse Ullery, racing secretary for Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs. “He’s found nationwide success that started here at WRD and is just one victory away from qualifying for the All American Quarter Horse Derby, which is one of the most prestigious races in Quarter Horse racing.”
The 3-year-old gelding is in the midst of a 9-race winning streak, one that began with four wins at Will Rogers Downs last fall, including the 350-yard Black Gold Futurity Division 3, followed by the Black Gold Futurity Championship. Wicked Courage was named WRD’s “Horse of the Meet” in 2012.
Overall, the racing schedule features 23 stakes races, including the $30,000 added AQHA Red Cell Distance Challenge Finals, the $100 guaranteed Black Gold Division III Futurity Finals and the Cherokee Challenge, worth an estimated $30,000.
On the final day of racing, the schedule includes the Black Gold Futurity Championship Finals, worth an estimated $384,000, and the Oklahoma Horsemen’s Association Mystery Futurity Finals Grade II, with $50,000 added.
During the spring meet, a record $22.3 million was wagered on live racing at Will Rogers Downs, which is an increase of $1.75 million over the 2012 spring meet.
Will Rogers Downs, which is in its seventh year of operation, had six days surpass $1 million in wagering during the 2013 32-day meet.
Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs is located three miles east of Claremore on Highway 20. For more information, visit www.cherokeestarrewards.com and click on the Will Rogers Downs tab, or call (918) 283-8800.
