Page 52 - December 2021

Scott followed “The Nicodemus Era” with “What a Way to Go” in 1996, about Los Alamitos’ founding and first 30 years, and “Teaching Narcissus to Swim” in 2010, a novel about an Oklahoma teenager who leaves home for Ruidoso Downs to become a professional jockey.
FROM HIGH NOON TO SUNSET
In 1988, Remington Park opened for
live racing. “As a trainer, I’d won the first Thoroughbred pari-mutuel race in Oklahoma history on the day Blue Ribbon Downs opened,” he says. “I knew how meager the Oklahoma racing scene was so when I saw Remington Park, it blew my mind.
I knew Corey Johnsen, the VP of Remington Park; we’d been friends back when I was training horses in Arizona way back in the
’70s. I contacted him and mentioned I’d like
to try my hand in being involved in racetrack management at some point.
“The winter of 1989-90, I was training Thoroughbreds in Maryland and for three weeks in a row, the low was never warmer than 1 degree.”
Scott approached Corey about working
at Remington Park. Although Corey didn’t have any journalism openings at the time, he referred Scott to the Daily Racing Form, who was looking for a full-time columnist. “I went out that day and watched the Frank DeFrancis Memorial Sprint Thoroughbred race at Laurel, typed a story, sent it to the editor and let him know I was looking for an opportunity to be a columnist at Remington Park,” Scott says. “He liked the story and hired me. So, my first gig
here was writing five columns a week for the Daily Racing Form.”
As time went on, more opportunities presented themselves. “Jim Byers, the announcer at Remington Park, got a sore throat one day so they asked me to do some TV work,” Scott says.
He stayed at Remington Park for three years, then R.D. Hubbard called on him for some help settling a dispute at Hollywood Park, which led to Scott moving there as assistant general manager.
He stayed from 1993 until the summer of 1994, then took on the general manager’s position at Ruidoso. In 1995 he went to work for the Hubbard Museum there, where he co-founded the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Lone Star Park hired Scott to reopen the national tracks of Mexico and Uruguay along with consulting for other Latin American countries.
He was in South America when Oklahoma State Question 712 passed in November 2004 allowing racetracks in the state to operate casinos. Remington Park had fallen on hard times. “It was always my favorite track,” Scott says. “Among other reasons, it’s the first I ever worked at in management. So, when Question 712 passed, I said to my wife, Mellyn, that Remington Park might survive after all.
“The next day, Corey Johnsen, who by then was Vice President of Racing for Magna Entertainment Corporation, asked if I’d like to come back to Remington. I started in March 2005 and have been president and general manager for 16 years.”
In 2013, Scott took on those roles at Lone Star Park as well.
HIS LIFELONG LESSONS
In addition to his dad, Ted, and Ted’s mentor Walter Merrick, Scott credits horsemen such as Wayne Lukas, Jack Van Berg, Jack Brooks, Blane Schvaneveldt, Johnny T.L. Jones, Don Farris, Chuck Taliaferro and Bubba Cascio for what he was able to absorb, especially in his early years of training. “They taught me so much about how to be a horseman,” he says.
“Developing a young horse is something I find infinitely rewarding,” he adds. “To take a young, clumsy colt or filly and have them turn into an athlete that’s performing at their very best is a huge, fulfilling moment in a horse trainer’s life. It’s a very, very artistic and fulfilling piece of work that involves so much, so much time.
“As a track manager, it’s been the same thing seeing employees, who may have been young and green and undecided about a lot of things in their life, and then turn into real professionals,” he adds. “That’s been really rewarding as well.
“But I have to say that as a GM, handing out trophies to winning connections—trainers and owners and jockeys who have success at your track—is what horse racing is all about,” he says. “Being part of that thrill when people come
into the winner’s circle is something I learned about when I was just a kid, and in the past 31 years, I’ve been able to see lots of other people experience that thrill. It’s a great sport and those special moments that I’ve been able to be there for are part of what makes it great.”
“Scott has played a large part in making Remington Park the success it is today,” says all-time leading jockey G.R. Carter, Jr. “He’s the utmost professional in what he does and
“. . . everyone who gets to know him feels like they’ve known him their whole life.” - G.R. Carter
50 SPEEDHORSE December 2021
Scott and all-time leading jockey G.R. Carter compete together in camel races.