Jungle Runner follows Long Range Toddy, wins Remington's Clever Trevor

Jockey Ramon Vazquez made it to the winner’s circle for the third time Friday night at Remington Park in the most important race of the evening, winning aboard Jungle Runner in the $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes. Vazquez won four races total Friday.

Vazquez was up for leading trainer Steve Asmussen, who was also a winner four times on the card. The National Museum of Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer had three of the five runners in the Clever Trevor Stakes and Jungle Runner proved best. The 2-year-old son of Candy Ride won $60,000 for owner Calumet Farm of Lexington, Ky.

“I just waited for the last quarter to make my move,” said Vazquez. “That’s a good horse, you know.”

Jungle Runner broke his maiden last time out in a race at Remington Park on Sept. 29, so he remains unbeaten here. He improved his record to four starts and two wins for a bankroll of $81,165. The colt had actually been beaten by one of the other Asmussen starters in the race, Something Super, back on Aug. 30 at Ellis Park. He turned the tables Friday night, however, beating Something Super by 1-1/4 lengths.

Vazquez broke last in the field and moved up a placing with every pole, sitting fourth after a quarter-mile of :23.55. He was in third after a half-mile of :47.60. The time for three-quarters of a mile was 1:12.07. Jungle Runner handled the seven furlongs in 1:24.88 over a fast track.

By the time they hit the stretch, Jungle Runner had put a head in front and kept his margin intact the rest of the way. He went off as the second betting favorite at 2-1 odds and paid $6.20 to win, $3 to place and $2.60 to show.

“He ran very well,” said Asmussen’s assistant trainer Darren Fleming. “He seems to learn something with every race.”

After the runner-up Something Super, finishing third was Tale Twister, 4-1/4 lengths behind the winner. Samurai Cause and It’s My Money completed the order of finish.

It was Vazquez’s first trip to the winner’s circle in the Clever Trevor Stakes, but the sixth time for Asmussen, including last year with Long Range Toddy, who ended up a contender on the Kentucky Derby trail earlier this year. Asmussen also won in 2008-2009 and 2011-2012. His winners were King Henny (2012), Officer Prado (2011), Grand Slam Andre (2009) and King Gulch (2008). His six wins in this race are twice as many as his closest competitors for the Clever Trevor, Donnie Von Hemel and Joe Petalino, who have won the race three times each.

Calumet Farm won the race for the first time. Jungle Runner was bred in Kentucky by the owner.

The Clever Trevor Stakes serves as the final local prep race for the $400,000 Springboard Mile, to be run at Remington Park on Sunday, Dec. 15. Last year, Long Range Toddy won both the Clever Trevor Stakes and the Springboard.

The Clever Trevor Stakes is named after the millionaire Oklahoma-bred who won the first Oklahoma Derby in 1989. A versatile gelding, Clever Trevor was owned and bred by the late Don McNeill of Edmond, Okla., and trained by Donnie Von Hemel. He helped draw national awareness to Remington Park in its first years of operation. Clever Trevor passed away in 2016 at the age of 30.