ACCREDITED TEXAS-BREDS IN WEEKEND STAKES AT LOUISIANA DOWNS
Bret Calhoun will saddle Sitting Bull (Artie Schiller – Smoldering Beauty), the 5/2 favorite in a field of 9 for Saturday’s $60,000 Sunday Silence Stakes for 2-year-olds going a mile on the turf at Louisiana Downs. Bred by Clarence Scharbauer III, the colt runs for Douglas Scharbauer. With a record of 3-1-1-0, he is coming off a 3-length win in a 7 ½ furlong maiden special weight on July 29th.
Ian Yarnot’s homebred Corluna (Unbridled’s Heart – Red Moon Cat) is in a field of 12 for the $60,000 Happy Ticket Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going a mile on the turf. Trained by Sarah Delaney, the filly has a record of 5-1-1-0 and is coming off a 1 ¾-length win in a 7 ½ furlong maiden special weight on August 21st. She has odds of 12/1.
In the $200,000 Super Derby for 3-year-olds going 1/16 miles on the turf, Danny Pish will send out Fast Talkin Man (Oratory – Dancingwithfortune), a homebred for Born to Run LLC, Marietta Burks and Betty and Carl Davis. The gelding was second in the Super Derby Prelude Stakes on August 5th, and has odds of 8/1.
SHES OUR FASTEST IS PRINCESS STAKES WINNER
Shes Our Fastest coasted home to a 3-1/2 length victory in a final time of 1:12.03 for six furlongs in the $50,000 Evangeline Downs Princess Stakes last Saturday.
Bred in Texas by Eureka Thoroughbred Farm, the filly is owned by Mark Norman and Norman Stables, LLC and trained by Scott Gelner. She is now two-for-two in her brief career and the $30,000 first-place purse increased her lifetime earnings to $48,450. Shes Our Fastest is by the late Oklahoma and Texas stallion Oratory and is out of the Festival of Light mare, Dawali.
Shes Our Fastest originally sold for $14,000 at the Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale at Lone Star Park and then again for $50,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
IVAN FALLUNOVALOT BACK IN FINE FORM
Ivan Fallunovalot returned to Remington Park last weekend, coming off a nearly six-month layoff, apparently fresh and ready to roll. The 7-year-old cruised to an easy $40,000 allowance win by 5-3/4 lengths on Saturday night under a hand-ride by jockey Luis Quinonez.
Owned by Lewis Mathews Jr. of Bismarck, Arkansas and trained by Tom Howard, Ivan Fallunovalot put forth possibly his best effort in any of his seven career attempts in Oklahoma City. The two-time defending sprint champion at Remington Park and 2015 Texas Horse of the Year, Ivan Fallunovalot’s time was just off the track record of 1:08.10 established by Smoke of Ages back in 1991.
Ivan Fallunovalot is expected to run next in the $150,000 David M. Vance Sprint, on the Oklahoma Derby Day undercard on Sept. 24. Ivan Fallunovalot won the race last year prior to winning the Grade 3, DeFrancis Dash at Laurel Park later in the fall.
A winner of 16 career races from 27 attempts, Ivan Fallunovalot has now won six races at Remington Park in only seven tries. A son of Valid Expectations from the Horse Chestnut (SAF) mare Flashdance Missy bred by Eileen Hartis, Ivan Fallunovalot made $23,898 for his score on Saturday, boosting his lifetime earnings to $855,956.
NTRA CHARITIES DONATE TO HELP SAM HOUSTON EMPLOYEES
NTRA Charities – a subsidiary of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association – has pledged a $5,000 donation to the Penn National Gaming Foundation, with the contribution earmarked for employees of Sam Houston Race Park most severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey and the resulting floods in Southeast Texas.
“We’ve all seen the devastating images coming out of South Texas,” said NTRA President & CEO Alex Waldrop. “The region is hurting, including individuals and their families directly tied to Sam Houston Race Park. We are pleased to contribute funds to support these families in their time of need and applaud so many other horse industry groups making similar contributions across the region.”
Sam Houston, currently between race meetings, opened its stable area as a horse shelter during Harvey and the racetrack property, in northwest Houston, appears to have evaded serious damage. However, track president Andrea Young said they have been in contact with at least a dozen employees who have been severely impacted.
“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of NTRA charities,” Young said. “There are so many people in the Greater Houston area that have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey and it is comforting for our employees to see the support of the racing community during this difficult time. This gift will go directly to our employees who have been most impacted. The road to recovery is just beginning and this wonderful gesture will help that recovery start today.”
NOTES: Congrats to Craig Upham, breeder of Texas Chrome, who will be honored as Texas’ Breeder of the Year at the September 9 TOBA Awards Dinner… Congrats to Johnny Evans and Terry Eoff, whose 2-year-old Kentucky-bred filly, Terra’s Angel, won the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes at Del Mar on Monday. The filly is named for Eoff’s daughter, Terra Bibb, who passed away in May…San Antonio will host the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) 63rd Annual Convention, to be held November 17-21 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. To register, view the complete educational program or book a hotel room, visit convention.aaep.org.