The OP Mile (Grade 3)- $500.000 Purse
OP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
March 29, 2025

While there may have only been six horses in the OP Mile field, it was a strong and deep field, so when Licit saw his odds shoot up to 15/1, it wasn’t that people thought he was a bad horse, there were simply more appealing runners in the field. It’s a bit of a shame that the OP Mile was not picked for one of the Pick ‘em races, because it would have been interesting to see how others saw this field. As the second longest shot on the board, Licit picked up what can now be considered his biggest career victory, and the first for both trainer D J C Racing Stables and jockey D E Centeno in the race. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:34.09, ranking third of the four winning times in the race’s history. Let’s take a look at it:

(½ Mile- :22.96)- After running evenly with Maxmillion Farm’s Schopenhauer, the longest shot on the board. TwinTowersRacing’s Nutmeg, will claim the top spot and lead by a length around the opening turn. Schopenhauer settles into the second spot and has the Mb Stables- trained Lunar Victory within a length to his inside. Licit, our eventual winner from D J C Racing Stables is a length behind him in fourth, while Retaliate (Riggins Racing) and Quiet Return (John Henry) are at the back.

(½ Mile- :46.40)- Heading down the backstretch, it is still Nutmeg out in front as not much changes during this part of the race. Schopenhauer is still within a length to his inside, and running third remains Lunar Victory on the rail. Licit waits for his time to strike, positioned right behind Lunar Victory. Quiet Return is next, pulling about a length in front of Retaliate.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Around the turn, and into the stretch, the top three horses run in the same positional alignment as they had previously, so this meant that D E Centeno had to do something with Licit to find running room. Midway into the turn, that decision would be to swing his horse to the far outside, and Licit looked poised to have a big stretch run. That was tough news for Quiet Return, since he pulled out right in front of him, but I don’t think this caused much of a check up on that one’s part. Retaliate would ride the rail during the turn.

(Finish- 1:34.09)- With a furlong to go, the field was close together, and at this point, all six trainers had to think there was still at least some hope for a race win. Approaching the wire, a horse that we wrote in the preview as just needing to find a little more in the stretch, would do exactly that here, with a workmanlike effort all the way to the finish, to go on and win by half a length. Second to sixth would all be within a length of one another, with a three-way photo for place seeing Retaliate get the better of Schopenhauer, then Nutmeg. Lunar Victory and Quiet Return complete the running order.

About The Winner- Licit, trained by D J C Racing Stables and ridden to victory by D E Centeno, is a four-year-old gelding by Lawful and is out of Big Plan. He was bred in New York as a first quarter two-year-old by D J C Racing Stables, the only trainer for which he has ever known. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 18 starts, second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $665.800.

Track: Fast
Time: :22⁴  :46²  1:10¹  1:34

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 4 Paid 57.40
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 4 – 3 Paid 471.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES