TEXAS CONNECTIONS IN UPCOMING STAKES
Stakes winner Gee She Sparkles (Race Day – Pata Fresca) will compete in a field of 6 for the $75,000 Letellier Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds on Saturday. Bred by Bethe Deal’s Inside Move, the filly is trained by Danny Pish, who owns her in partnership with GFB Racing LLC (Shannon Toland and Stacy Gee). She won the filly division of the $109,167 Texas Thoroughbred Futurity at Lone Star on July 14th by whopping 5 ¼ lengths. In her latest start, she finished 4th in the $75,000 Zia Park Princess Stakes on November 27th. She has odds of 9/2.
Also in the race is 5/1 Halama (KY), owned by Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch.
In the $75,000 Bonapaw Stakes, trainier Karl Broberg will saddle 8/1 Recount (IL), and Brad Grady owns 7/2 Fast Boat (KY).
Ian Yarnot’s homebred stakes winner Corluna (Unbridled’s Heart – Red Moon Cat) is a 30/1 longshot in the $75,000 Blushing K. D. Stakes. She is coming off a layoff after winning the $50,000 Lane’s End Danny Shifflett Scholarship Stakes at Lone Star on June 23 and finishing 2nd in Retama Park’s $50,000 Fiesta Mile on September 6.
Steve Asmussen will send out 10/1 Oh My (KY).
In the $75,000 Sugar Bowl, Asmussen has 2/1 favorite Gold Street (KY) for Mike McCarty, and has 8/1 Tenfold (KY) in the $75,000 Tenacious Stakes.
On the 27th at Delta Downs, Broberg will saddle Dale’s Lil Sis (LA) for the $70,000 Lookout Stakes. The mare is owned by End Zone Athletics (Broberg and Matt Johanson).
Best of luck to all!
TEXAS AG COMMISSIONER GETS HIS OWN CABLE TV SHOW
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has a starring role in a new cable TV show about Texas agriculture, set to premiere on January 21.
Marketed as a fun and informative look at the role agriculture plays in daily lives, “Texas Agriculture Matters” will feature Miller exploring Texas in weekly episodes and promises to highlight “hooves, hide, hair, horns and everything in between,” according to a statement from Miller’s office.
Produced by RFD-TV, a channel targeted at rural Americans, the show will be recorded in Fort Worth and structured to include feature segments, interviews and lifestyle spotlights.
Miller, an eighth-generation Texan and former rodeo champion who has been serving as commissioner since 2015, will host the show in his professional capacity and will not be paid for his participation, his office said.
The show may also present an opportunity to showcase the Texas Horse Industry.
NOTES: Today at 5pm Central is the deadline for the online auction of 2020 stallion breedings. Place your bids at www.texasthoroughbred.com… Ballots for the TTA Board of Directors election were tabulated on December 17th with Keith Asmussen, Ken Carson, Tracy Sheffield, Bill Tracy and Henry Witt being re-elected to serve 3-year-terms. Many thanks to all the candidates…TOBA has named Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt as December Members of the Month. They have raced numerous top-flight horses and reached new heights in 2019 by campaigning grade 1 winners Mia Mischief and Mitole. Bill served many years on the TTA Board of Directors, received the Allen Bogan Memorial Award for Member of the Year in 1996, and he and Corinne were honored with the T. I. “Pops” Harkins Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2009, having bred or raced eight Texas Champions…Condolences go to the family of Larry S. “Stan” Huntsinger who passed away this week. Stan previously served on the TTA Board of Directors, participated in the ATB Program and TTA Sales. Funeral service will be 10:00 a.m., Monday, December 30, 2019 at Grace Garden Gardens Funeral Home, 8220 Woodway Drive, Woodway, Texas. Interment will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 2-4pm on Sunday December 29th at Grace Gardens Funeral Home…The TTA office will be closed December 24 and 25 for Christmas. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.