Dark Afternoon became the first black-type stakes winner for stallion Black Bear in taking the $50,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint the evening of Sept. 22. He rallied past Twentyone N Change late to win by three-quarters of a length under Jermaine Bridgmohan.
The winner, an Oklahoma-bred out of the Came Home mare Afternoon Liason, was clocked covering five furlongs in :56.74 on a firm Remington Park turf course. The Austin Gustafson trainee paid $7.40 to win.
Dark Afternoon earned $30,000 and improved his record to 4-1-1 in seven starts with overall earnings of $111,855. It was his second win from three races during the ongoing Remington meet.
Pomeroy Haze finished third, three lengths behind runner-up Twentyone N Change.
What They Said
- "He has shown a new dimension, passing horses. He did it well," Bridgmohan noted.
- "Jermaine said, 'Don't panic if he breaks bad; he will be all right,'" said owner-breeder James Rogers of Elk City, Okla. "His half-brother Denver City won this race last year, so maybe more good things are coming."
Black Bear, a multiple stakes-placed 13-year-old son of Midnight Lute, entered stud in 2018. Dark Afternoon is his leading money earner. Bango Bear and Oga Bear are next, with respective earnings of $68,298 and $40,362. Black Bear stood this year for an advertised fee of $2,500 at Black Hawk Farm in Oklahoma.
