Mister Omaha Goes Back-to-Back in Oklahoma Classics Cup

Mister Omaha hadn't run since June 27 and when he did, he finished sixth, beaten 10 lengths in Texas over the turf. That poor showing didn't matter Friday night at Remington Park as this 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred colt returned to the dirt and fired fresh off the layoff, leaving the competition in his dust in the $131,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup at 1-1/16th miles on the main track. A son of Omaha Beach, out of the Into Mischief mare Cosmic Code, went straight to the lead out of the gate and was two lengths ahead of everyone before they could blink an eye. Under veteran rider Luis Quinonez, who is the second all-time leading jockey at Remington Park behind Cliff Berry, Mister Omaha gave everything he had and widened that margin to five lengths turning for home. He held on, at 4-5 odds, to win by 4-1/2 lengths in a time of 1:42.82 on the fast surface. It was the third win on Oklahoma Classics Night for Mister Omaha, who also won the Juvenile as a 2-year-old in 2024 and the 2025 Classics Cup. He won for the 10th time in his career from 18 tries and improved his record to 18-10-1-2, $509,083 in earnings. The Classics Cup was his third stakes win in a row for Mister Omaha at Remington Park, going back to wins in the $50,000 Jim Thorpe Handicap last year on Dec. 20 that followed his win in the Oklahoma Classics Cup on Oct. 17, 2025. You have to go back to the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby to find a stakes loss here when he ran third, behind Bracket Buster and Iron Dome a year ago. "This horse is my favorite," said Quinonez, who won a Classics race for the 25th time, putting him only one win behind Berry's 26. "The first time I got on him, I told (trainer) Joe (Offolter) that I love this horse." Halfway through the race Friday, Quinonez looked behind himself to see if anything was coming. "I just didn't want any surprises," he said with a laugh. No worries. Mister Omaha won easily, if not as easily as last year when he drew away by a remarkable 9-3/4 lengths. Offolter, a member of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame, swept the final two races on the card - the Cup with Mister Omaha and the Oklahoma Classics Turf Handicap with 28-1 longshot Kitty Code. That gave Offolter 12 Classics victories for his resume that shot him past the late Roger Engel (11) and Steve Hobby (10) into third place all-time. He now sits behind Donnie Von Hemel (32) and C.R. Trout (18). "We couldn't get what we needed for him this fall, so we waited to get him right and he was training good," said Offolter. "Luis worked him a good seven furlongs and we were just hoping we had him fit enough for this." Mister Omaha put $78,600 into owner Bryan Hawk's pockets with his second consecutive trip to the Classics Cup winner's circle, giving Hawk two wins as an owner on Friday and three as a breeder. The winner's internal fractions for the race were :23.72 for the first quarter-mile, :47.32 for the half-mile, 1:11.50 for six furlongs and 1:36.30 for the mile. In the category of someone-had-to-finish-second, Winters Lion (17-1) got up for that placing, a half-length ahead of Classy Empire (6-5) in third. The rest of the order of finish was Number One Dude (12-1) fourth, Inca Empire (43-1) fifth and Nucleus (5-1) sixth. Mister Omaha paid $3.80 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.10 to show. He was bred by his owner. "Joe and Luis and all the team had him ready," said Hawk. "You know, you never know if they are going to be tight and ready. He's amazing."