POINT BLANK RANGE RELAXES TO GET JOB DONE IN THE HERITAGE PLACE DERBY
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – May 31, 2026 – Jockey Roman Cruz picked up the mount on Point Blank Range when he came to Remington Park this meet, and the 3-year-old won all three starts with him up, including Saturday night’s Grade 2, $335,800 Heritage Place Derby.
Cruz had not ridden the horse in the past and isn’t quite sure exactly how he finally got the mount on Point Blank Range.
“I picked up the mount (this meet),” Cruz said. “ I don’t know where his rider was, but he just didn’t show. I guess I would call it a lucky day for me. So I watched the replays of his races and he didn’t like to break. My first time in the Remington Park trials, he didn’t break (fifth of nine) and we didn’t qualify for the finals. Then the next time, in the Heritage Place Derby trials for this race, he didn’t break again (eighth in a field of eight), but he picked it up and won anyway and we qualified.”
Cruz said he decided to try something different in the finals to help Point Blank Range break sharply from the gate.
“He’s not a break horse at all (from the gate), but you know, you work with the horses and find out what is better for them and what is going to win for you,” said Cruz. “I think I also relaxed myself and I think that’s what helped the horse most of all. I didn’t feel any pressure and I didn’t show him any. I just breathed and relaxed and the horse responded. I knew he could do it.”
Point Blank Range, a sophomore American Quarter Horse runner by Tell Cartel, out of the Bodacious Dash mare Fannie Blankers, won his third race in a row after going 0-for-2 in his first two starts as a 2-year-old, running second in a futurity trial at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, and third in his career debut in a trial at the Downs at Albuquerque, N.M. All that appears behind him now as Cruz has him straightened out. He earned $141,036 from the purse for owner 918 Bloodstock of Inola, Okla., who won leading owner for the meet with this, their 12th win. They are one of the owner outfits of four-time top trainer Dee Keener, who also clinched his fourth title in a row with this victory. READ MORE
2026 Heritage Place $335,800 Derby [G2] Qualifiers
| Derby | Horse | Sex | Time | Owner | Breeder | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | LUZIANA MAN | g. | 19.578 | Espinosa, Rosalio & Deville, Jr., Jerry | Jerry West (LA) | Jose U. Lopez | Bryan Candanosa |
 | POINT BLANK RANGE | g. | 19.731 | 918 Bloodstock | J. Garvan Kelly &/ J. Lloyd Yother (OK) | Dee Keener | Roman Cruz |
 | JC SPEEDING Heritage Place Sale Graduate | c. | 19.771 | Planefun, LLC | Joneson, Richard (OK) | Dee Keener | James A. Flores |
 | AJS WINGMAN | g. | 19.779 | Paul Treadwell | Paul Treadwell (KS) | Jason L. Olmstead | Ramiro Haro Garcia |
 | ARGYLES Heritage Place Sale Graduate | c. | 19.795 | Rancho Garambuyo | Cavanaugh Quarter Horses, LLC (OK) | Marco Adair Chavez-Gutierrez | Jonathan Dominguez |
 | CYBER BLUES | g. | 19.807 | Rancho El 48, LLC | L O S, LLC & Abelardo Gallegos (OK) | James J. Gonzales III | Christian Cardenas |
 | RACKET RIDGE | g. | 19.827 | Paul Treadwell | Paul Treadwell (KS) | Jason L. Olmstead | Francisco Raul Ramirez, Jr. |
 | FIRE N SPEED | c. | 19.831 | Victor Manuel Mendoza | Speed, LLC (OK) | Samuel Mendoza | Edwin G. Escobedo |
 | AB SEIS CORONAS | g. | 19.844 | Bryant, Jaime, Brooks, Melanie, and Joiner, Linda | Rancho El Cabresto, Inc. (CA) | Justin W. Joiner | Jesus Rios Ayala |
 | MAVERYKK Heritage Place Sale Graduate | g. | 19.856 | Lucky Ladies | Jordan Wiggins & Lindsey Cheek (OK) | Justin W. Joiner | Franciso Calderon |
To View all the Heritage Place Derby [G2] Winners CLICK HERE.