Limation, Lone Sailor get their rematch in Sunday's Oklahoma Derby

A pair of Kentucky Derby horses – Lone Sailor and Combatant -  and Louisiana’s Super Derby winner Limation are among 11 horses entered for this year’s edition of the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. The 30th edition will be contested at 1 1/8 miles on Sunday at Remington Park.

Limation, a 3-year-old colt out of the barn of National Racing Hall of Famer and perennial top trainer in the country by money earned Steve Asmussen, was established as the morning line favorite at 3-1 odds by line maker Rick Lee. Limation beat Lone Sailor by almost six lengths to win the Super Derby at 26-1 odds for owner Michael Langford of Jonesboro, Ark., with jockey Diego Saenz getting the call that day. Saenz also will get a leg up at Remington Park for the Oklahoma Derby.

Limation drew the No. 4 post and will break just inside of Lone Sailor.

Lone Sailor has been a nationally prominent 3-year-old colt all year and is the top money earner in the field of 11 horses drawn this morning with more than $600,000 in his bankroll for trainer Tom Amoss and owner GMB Racing.

Lone Sailor is the second choice at 7-2 odds in what appears to be one of the most competitive fields ever in this race, going to post as the 11th race on a 12-race card that includes 10 stakes races worth more than $1.3 million.

Combatant, a 3-year-old son of Scat Daddy, out of the Boundary mare Border Dispute, ran into a bear at Oaklawn this spring in Magnum Moon, who won the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby, the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel Stakes and was one of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby. After running second in the $400,000 Springboard Mile as a juvenile at Remington Park in 2017, Combatant ran second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn before showing a lot of heart, finishing third and fourth to Magnum Moon in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby, respectively.

Combatant, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Willis Horton Racing LLC of Las Vegas, will break from the No. 8 hole in the Oklahoma Derby as an outsider at 12-1 odds. Regular rider Ricardo Santana gets the call.

Since running in the Kentucky Derby, Combatant most recently was a fast closing fourth at Saratoga in upstate New York in his last race, beaten a little more than a length in the $100,000 Better Talk Now Stakes. Combatant has earned $405,520 in 11 lifetime starts.

Asmussen has entered four horses in the Oklahoma Derby. The other two that he will saddle are Lionite and Retirement Fund. Lionite actually finished ahead of Limation in a maiden race at Oaklawn this spring, but ran fourth to Limation in the Super Derby. Lionite, who drew the inside post for Remington’s leading rider David Cabrera in the Oklahoma Derby, also won the $65,000 Prairie Mile in Iowa by more than five lengths. Lionite is given a puncher’s chance at 10-1 odds.

The field for the Oklahoma Derby from the rail out with trainer, jockey and odds is:

1) Lionite, Asmussen, Cabrera, 10-1

2) Wooderson, Todd Pletcher, Jose Ortiz, 4-1 

3) Believe in Royalty, Larry Jones, Gabriel Saez, 20-1 

4) Limation, Asmussen, Saenz, 3-1

5) Lone Sailor, Amoss, Graham, 7-2

6) Eisenstaedt, Ron Moquett, Jack Gilligan, 20-1

7) Diamond King, John Servis, Frankie Pennington, 6-1

8) Combatant, Asmussen, Santana, 12-1

9) Sea Foam, Christophe Clement, Florent Geroux, 12-1

10) Retirement Fund, Asmussen, Ramon Vazquez, 30-1

11) First Mondays, Servis, Paco Lopez, 8-1