by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

A local Remington Park legend, Shotgun Kowboy has done everything asked of him from the day C.R. Trout planned the mating of his dam Shotgun Jane to Kodiak Kowboy. 

When the now-gelding was born on March 25, 2012, Trout was impressed with the foal – a feeling he continues to have even seven years later. 

“He was a good-looking baby when he hit the ground,” Trout said. “He had all the attributes that you want in a horse and he just carried it on to his yearling year then when we broke him. He doesn’t have any flaws in his conformation and he’s sound as a dollar so we’ve been very blessed.”

The winner of 15 of his 40 starts with 28 top three finishes, Shotgun Kowboy has won at least one stakes a year in all but one season he’s raced for over $1.5 million in earnings. However, even with all his previous success, Trout thinks the gelding has stepped up to another level after they fixed a small hoof issue last year.

“Last year was a tough year for him, he had issues with his feet being shelly so we got him over that and this son of a gun has come back with a new lease on life,” Trout explained of the gelding’s four wins in 10 starts last year. “He’s ready to perform and is and has.”

Part of his success can be credited to his unflappable demeanor. The gelding is a tough competitor but he’s also easy going, with Trout believing you could even run errands on him in downtown Oklahoma City without worrying about him trying to do anything funny.

“He’s just a swell horse to be around. We could take him downtown, tie him to the flag, and he’d stand there while we went into the post office,” he said of the gelding. “He’s just that kind of horse, very laid back and it doesn’t seem like anything bothers him.”

That demeanor was on full display in front of the Springboard Mile crowd on Sunday night when he stepped on the track for the closing race of Remington Park’s 2019 meet. Looking like he was out for a trail ride during the pre-race proceedings, he fired up as the field loaded into the gate and finished a good third in the Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial Stakes in his third run in the race. 

While it wasn’t the result the popular horse’s fans would have wished to end his season, Trout says that as long as everything goes to plan he will return in 2020. The barn will head up to Oaklawn this winter where ‘Shotgun’ has made at least one start a year each of the last four seasons with four victories at the track.

But no matter what happens with Shotgun’s future, it’s obvious the gelding is not only a much-loved member of the Trout barn, but the Trout family as well.

“It’s not so much what he means to the barn, it’s what he means to our family,” Trout concluded. “He was my wife’s pride and joy and she passed away two weeks ago and he just means a lot. He’s kind of a remembrance of her through him.”