Photo:

Dustin Orona Photography / Remington Park

Trainer Joe Offolter has been competing at Remington Park since it opened and he stands third on the all-time wins list at the Oklahoma track with 610. A trio of those wins belong to Mister Omaha, who is approaching his own all-time status in the Offolter barn.

Owned and bred by Bryan Hawk of Shawnee, Okla., Mister Omaha has rattled off three consecutive victories. He broke his maiden status on Sept. 27 at 5 1/2 furlongs before winning his first stakes race in the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile on Oct. 18, at six furlongs. The colt then answered many questions to win the Don McNeill Stakes on Nov. 8 at one mile.

A 2-year-old by Omaha Beach from the Into Mischief mare Cosmic Code, Mister Omaha has defeated fellow Oklahoma-breds in his three straight wins. It was the way he won the McNeill Stakes that raised eyebrows for Offolter, overcoming a poor start, an off track, racing at one mile around two turns, and making up massive ground.

“Completely different from what we had anticipated,” Offolter said of the way the McNeill unfolded for Mister Omaha. “He always broke real sharp sprinting. We thought he would be up closer to the lead. He kind of slipped or something and got away from there just a little slow and then the other horse (Periscope) came out on him and Luis (Quinonez) had to really take a good hold of him. I felt a lot better with Luis riding because I knew he wouldn’t get too excited and he knew where the finish line was.”

Quinonez, a fellow Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer with Offolter, didn’t panic with Mister Omaha after everything seemed to go against him at the start. Instead, the veteran jockey with 4,022 career wins let his colt get into stride and found a comfort level as they moved to the backstretch. Roughly 10 lengths behind the early leaders with five furlongs remaining, Quinonez and Mister Omaha began to methodically advance. Once into the final turn, the pair turned up the effort, reeling in the field by the time they reached the top of the stretch before pulling away to win by five lengths.

That ability to overcome has led Offolter to believe he might have something special on his hands in Mister Omaha.

“You’ve always got dreams. He’s just been such an intelligent horse, which always gives you a head start,” Offolter noted. “He’s probably one of my best 2-year-olds I’ve ever had. Before, we haven’t really pushed our 2-year-olds too much but this horse was quite a bit mature so we went on with him. He’s probably one of my better 2-year-olds.”

Never wanting to get ahead of himself, Offolter waited a couple of days after winning the McNeill to see what affect it had on Mister Omaha.

“He really came back good. Such an intelligent horse and easy on himself. When he comes back, his mind… he doesn’t get too rattled. He comes back and eats good, not too excited. He does pretty good.”

The winning efforts on the track, the demeanor around the barn and the ability to recover from the racing exertion, have Offolter on the road to the Springboard Mile with Mister Omaha.

“That’s kind of what we are looking at right now. As long as everything progresses the way we think it will, that’s probably a pretty good option for us.”

Offolter will let Mister Omaha have a few more days of light training before starting to ratchet things up for the Springboard, a race with 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points for Kentucky Derby 2025 and a $300,000 purse, the richest 2-year-old race of the Remington Park season.

The Springboard would also be the first open-company attempt for Mister Omaha, who would try to become the first Oklahoma-bred to win the race since Ted’s Folly in 2011.