Quarter Horse Country
Oklahoma is to American Quarter Horse racing as Kentucky is to Thoroughbred racing.
There are more top American Quarter Horse sprinters bred in Oklahoma each year than in any other state. In fact, there are more horses in Oklahoma than there are in Kentucky. Next time you drive down the road and see horses in a pasture in the Sooner state, chances are about 9 in 10 that you're looking at an American Quarter Horse.
There are more than 35,000 owners of Quarter Horses living in Oklahoma, and although not all of the horses are "racing" Quarter Horses, most carry the heritage of the racing bloodlines somewhere in their pedigrees.
Over the years, Oklahoma bloodlines have produced the fastest Quarter Horses in the world. Oklahoma continues to dominate the breeding industry with the quality of breeding stock domiciled in this State.
More than half of the nation's top ten trainers, riders, owners, and breeders of racing Quarter Horses will likely participate in Oklahoma racing at Remington Park during the 2023 race meet.
Horse Racing is Oklahoma
Horse racing is deeply embedded in both the history and culture of Oklahoma.
College and high school football may be king in terms of our culture, but horse racing gives football a pretty good run for its money. In fact, Oklahoma City, the home to Remington Park, credits its own existence to the "world's biggest horse race": An estimated 50,000 people - many on horseback - literally raced for land in present day Oklahoma City and surrounding areas in the Oklahoma land run for the "unassigned lands" on April 22, 1889.
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/L/LA014.html
In 2017, Remington Park drew over 1,800,000 people - more than any single sporting-entertainment destination in the state - to see live racing, listen to live music and play in the Remington Park casino.
Today, there are more than 50,000 people in Oklahoma involved in the race horse industry.
The economic impact of American Quarter Horse racing on Oklahoma is estimated to exceed $700 million annually and includes such jobs, goods, and services provided by farmers as raising and selling feed and hay, feed stores, veterinary support services, horse trailer manufacturing plants, truck and trailer dealers, and even the restaurants and hotels that provide services for the out of town and out of state race industry professionals drawn to Remington Park for the live racing season.
Over 35,000 jobs in Oklahoma are created because of the horse industry.
Big Purses On Track for 2022
In 2021, the Remington Park Quarter Horse meet paid out nearly $15 million in Purses, which was an average of $300,000 per day for Quarter Horses. In 2022, there is an abundance of Stakes races at Remington Park, including the oldest recognized Quarter Horse Futurity in the industry, the Oklahoma Futurity. The Remington Park Oklahoma-bred Futurity offers approximately $1.3 million in total purse money and the Heritage Place Futurity offers $1.1 million. Just to name a few!
For a closer look at the 2023 racing calendar, click here. "
Oklahoma Equine Industry Study
Recently the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, the OQHRA, the Thoroughbred Racing Association, and the two gaming tracks (Remington Park and Will Rogers Downs) commissioned a well-respected national firm to conduct a study on the economic impact of the horse industry in Oklahoma. Our goal was to measure the impact of the horse industry since the passage of State Question 712 which made promises to benefit the entire State of Oklahoma at the same time that it helped save the horse racing industry in the State.
The results are in, and they are astounding! In 2005 the economic impact of the horse industry in Oklahoma was $1.2 Billion according to an American Horse Council Study prepared by Deloitte.
For more information on Oklahoma Quarter Horse racing visit: www.oqhra.com