News and Notes for July 12, 2019

ATB’S IN WEEKEND STAKES
Tonight, there are two Accredited Texas-bred fillies in a field of 9 for the $50,000 Opelousas Stakes at Evangeline Downs going a mile of the turf. 

Sarah Delaney will saddle Ian Yarnot’s homebred stakes placed Corluna (Unbridled’s Heart – Red Moon Cat).  The 4-year-old filly last won the Lane’s End Danny Shifflett Scholarship Stakes at Lone Star on June 23rd and has odds of 6-1.

Joseph P. Smith will send out multiple stakes winner Dagny (Scrimshaw – Shezamarkedword), bred by Mr. and Mrs. Mike Danapas.  She now runs for their Beyond Words Racing Stable.  She finished third to Corluna and has odds of 8-1.

On the 13th, Will Kari’s homebred stakes winner She’s Pretty Lucky (Lookin at Lucky – Pretty Amusing) is cross entered at Indiana Grand Race Course in the $100,000 Mari Hulman George Memorial Stakes and the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff Stakes.  Both races are at a mile and a sixteenth and she is trained by Eddie Kenneally.  Her last out was in the $125,000 (G3) Old Forester Mint Julep Stakes at Churchill on June 8th.

There are four stakes on tap for Sunday at Lone Star Park: the 29th running of the
Texas Thoroughbred Futurity for TTA sale graduates and ATB berth entries with estimated purses of $100,000 for each division, and the 21st running of the $50,000 Assault Stakes Presented by Highlander Training Center and the $50,000 Valor Farm Stakes.

Carded as Race 6 is the filly division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity with a full field of 12, headed by 2-1 favorite Sing the Song, a $30,000 Louisiana-bred Sales graduate bought by Susan Moulton from the consignment of Clear Creek Stud.  Trained by Matt Hebert, the filly broke her maiden on June 8th here by 4 ¼ lengths. 

At 3-1 is Gee She Sparkles (Race Day – Pata Fresca) a Texas-bred sale grad bred and consigned by Inside Move Inc.  Trainer Danny Pish owns her in partnership with GFB Racing LLC.  She won her first out by a whopping 10 ½ lengths on June 15th.

Danny Keene purchased Kentucky-bred Flat Precious (Flat Out – Preciouspurplerain) for $75,000 from the consignment of Bryan Ford.  She won her last out by a nice margin of 5 ¼  lengths on June 30th.  Trained by J. R. Caldwell, she has odds of 7-2.

Completing the field are Top Hat Charmer (KY), Fire of Gold (LA), Viv (KY), It’s My Money (TX), Ignis (KY), Tap and Spin (TX), Tambeaux Fina (LA), Maria Elena Y. G (OK), and No Mas Tequila (TX).

Race 7 is the 21st running of the Valor Farm Stakes with a field of 9 ATB fillies and mares going six furlongs.

The 7-5 favorite is stakes winner Ima Discreet Lady (Discreet Cat – Ima Three Blinger) bred by Larry S. Huntsinger and trained by Karl Broberg for Raymond Todd White and Duane Coker. She has a career record of 13-4-4-3 with $136,703 in earnings.

Scott Gelner will saddle 8-5 stakes winner Shes Our Fastest (Oratory – Dawali) for Mark Norman and Norman Stables LLC.  Bred by Eureka Thoroughbred Farm, she has a career record of 18-5-5-3 with over $200,000 in earnings.

Rounding out the field are Brave Daisey (Hidden Blessing – Brave Vixen), Eurodevilwoman (Euroears – The Devil is Mine), Sing Prada Sing (Sing Baby Sing – Kimbell’s Prada), Dark Desert Wine (Daaher – Lady Countdown), Sassy Kenzie Girl (Bind – Silver Calling), Mary Jane’s Double (Silver City – Lil’ Mary Jane) and True Confession (Broken Vow – Ruby’s Big Band).

The colt and gelding division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity is carded as Race 8 with a field of 9.

The 6-5 favorite is Accredited Texas-bred Moro Said Ready (Moro Tap – Who Said Ready), bred by Wes Melcher and owned by Penn Family Racing and Kevin Clifton. Trained by J. R. Caldwell, he won the $65,000 Staunch Avenger division of the Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallion Stakes here on June 23 by 3 lengths.

Steve Asmussen will send out Halfmoon Reef (LA) purchased as a yearling from the consignment of Clear Creek Stud by East Hickman (Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt). The colt is already a stakes winner, having annexed the $75,000 D. S. Shine Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs on July 6.  He has odds of 7-5.

Caldwell also trains Tick Tack Mo (KY) purchased by Keene Thoroughbreds LLC from the consignment of Twin Oaks Training Center.  He won his last out here on June 13 by a whopping 8 ½ lengths and has odds of 9-2.

Completing the field are Tale Twister (KY), The Devil’s Daddy (AR), Redbird’s Graduate (OK), Moro Appeal (TX), Jazzy G (ON), and Strait n’ Silent  (KY).

Race 9 is the Assault Stakes Presented by Highlander Training Center with a full field of 12 going one mile on the turf.

The 7-2 favorite is James Wessel’s homebred multiple stakes winner Redatory (Oratory – My Silver Song), whose last win was the $50,000 Richard King Turf Stakes at Houston in March.  He is trained by Allen Dupuy.

Larry Stroope will saddle stakes winner Bonjour Baby (Sing Baby Sing – Secret Sweep), bred by Tom Durant and owned by Alvin Wong. The 6-year-old gelding finished second to Redatory in the Richard King and has odds of 4-1.

Highway Song (My Golden Song – Terrific Speed) was bred by trainer Danny Pish who owns the gelding in partnership with Dennis Foster.  The stakes winner is coming off a long layoff and the morning line has him at 9-2.

Rounding out the field are Easter Snap (Etesaal – Seneca Song), Texas Long Bow (Crossbow – Determined Daria), Rumpole (Too Much Bling – Dehere’s Dream), My Bling (Too Much Bling – My Girl Bess), Valentine Street (Street Move – Crissy Aya), Lethal Move (Street Move – Lethal Temper), A M Milky Way (Elusive Bluff – Actress E), Right Lane Lukasz (Temple City – Wrenice), and Shotsoft (Grasshopper – Folksy).

NOTES: Texas horsemen have signed an agreement relative to new funds generated for the industry as a result of HB 2463.  See details at www.texasthoroughbred.com…Many thanks to Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller for his support of the Texas breeding and racing industry and his service as a member of the Texas Racing Commission…Come look for your next OTTB at the Roses to Ribbons Old Fashioned Horse Fair at Lone Star Park on Saturday morning.  Available horses will be presented in the saddling paddock at 10:30a.m.