by Richard Linihan
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – May 7, 2026 – Curls Favorite Jet continued a family line of success Thursday night at Remington Park. The 2-year-old gelded Oklahoma-bred was the fastest qualifier on the first night of trials for the Grade 1, $1,158,940 million Heritage Place Futurity.
The five fastest horses from Thursday will join the five fastest from another 13 trials on Friday night to make up the field of 10 that will vie for the richest purse in Oklahoma horse racing on the final night of the season, Champions Night, Saturday, May 30.
Curls Favorite Jet, with jockey Francisco Calderon in the saddle, cruised home a winner in the third of 13 trials Thursday, covering 350 yards in a time of :17.708, earning a speed index of 86. That came into a headwind of 7 mph over a fast track surface.
If that winner’s name sounds familiar, it’s because his dam (mother), Eye A Spit Curl Girl, drops babies that can soar above others at the racetrack and fly like the wind.
Curls Favorite Jet is a half-brother to champion aged mares, Curls Happy Wagon and Curls Joyful Wagon. All three are out of the same mare, Eye A Spit Curl Girl. She was named an American Quarter Horse Association Dam of Distinction in 2025, having produced at least two champion racehorses. Eye A Spit Curl Girl is a 2010 brown mare, owned and bred by Martin Stacy of Irving, Texas, the same owner and breeder of the fastest qualifier Thursday night, Curls Favorite Jet. His dam has produced nine starters who have earned more than $1.3 million.
Curls Happy Wagon won 9-of-20 races lifetime for earnings of $360,674 and was a multiple graded stakes winner for Martin and Michael A. Pohl. Her biggest win came in the Grade 1, $125,000 Mildred N. Vessels Memorial Handicap at Los Alamitos on the West Coast in 2020. Curls Joyful Wagon won 9-of-29 in her career for a bankroll of $479,505. Her biggest victory came in the Grade 1, $107,280 Junos Request Stakes here at Remington Park in 2025.
Curls Favorite Jet, trained by John Stinebaugh, was sent off as the 1-5 heavy favorite in his trial and paid $2.60 to win, $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show. He drew off to the victory by a full length over Prophets View (2-1 second favorite) who checked in second, another three-quarters of a length ahead of Whistlin Dixi (7-1).
The following were the five fastest qualifiers from on the first night of Heritage Place Futurity Trials on Thursday. They are listed by horse, jockey, trainer, time, speed index and trial number:
- 1) Curls Favorite Jet, Francisco Calderon, John Stinebaugh, :17.708, 86, trial three
- 2) Ivorys Version, Mario Delgado, Hernesto Ramirez, :17.737, 86, trial 10
- 3) Bett the Limit, Christian Cardenas, James J. Gonzales III, :17.762, 85, trial eight
- 4) Kiss My Nine Eleven, Jonathan Dominguez, Elferrelaureano Broom, :17.838, 83, trial nine
- 5) Light Her Up, Fernando Fonseca-Soto, Haley Hobbs, :17.842, 83, trial seven
Trainer James J. Gonzales III may have had the best night next to Stinebaugh as he won three of the trials on the evening. His top horse was the third qualifier, Bett the Limit. Gonzales’ other two winners came in the fifth race and trial as Running Cowboy 123 hit the wire first and then Rizzler captured the sixth race and trial. Neither of those two qualified for the final.
Wind was not a factor in the trials Thursday as it fluctuated between 7-10 mph the entire night.
Remington Park racing continues Friday night with 13 more Heritage Place trials on tap with a first post time of 6 p.m. Central.
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Remington Park has provided more than $410 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District. The $1,000,000 Heritage Place Futurity takes place on the final night of the spring season on Saturday, May 30. Remington Park presents year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. Guests must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or to enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.