The Houston Racing Festival will take place on Sunday, Jan. 30 with a special afternoon post time of 1:45 pm (CT). The event includes six stakes, highlighted by the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic. The second graded stakes feature, the G3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup, attracted an overflow field of 14 turf specialists.
Trainer Mike Maker has won seven of the past ten editions of the mile and one-half stakes which is run on the Connally Turf Course, named for the late Texas Governor John B. Connally. The esteemed conditioner will saddle three entrants, with a fourth possibility if Shady McGee draws in from the also-eligible list.
Maker's runners this year will include 2021 Connally runner-up, Ajourneytofreedom, who drew post position 11 at odds of 7-2. Owned by Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher, the 5-year-old son of Hard Spun, will be making his 23rd career start. The bay gelding exits the H. Allen Jerkens, a 2-mile feature at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 24. Nationally prominent rider Joel Rosario, who was aboard in the Grade 2, Jockey Gold Cup last June at Belmont Park, has the call.
“He's a deep closer, so the post is really not an issue, said Maker. “This horse always runs a strong race and I have faith that Joel will figure it out.”
Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher also own Malthael, who ran sixth in the H. Allen Jerkens. Claimed by Paradise Farms for a $35,000 in June at Belmont Park, he will break from post seven under up and coming young rider Reylu Gutierrez. The gelded son of Nobel Mission impressed Maker in his allowance victory at Keeneland last October.
“He ran a great race going a mile and a half at Keeneland,” said Maker. “I'm happy to give the mount to Reylu; he won a stakes for me at Finger Lakes (Blue Gator in the 2020 New York Breeders' Futurity). He's riding very well lately.”
Tide of the Sea, a 6-year-old son of English Channel, was given a freshening by Maker following his tenth-place finish in the Grade 2, Red Smith at Aqueduct on November 20. Tyler Gafflione will ride the impeccably bred turf runner who has banked $453,253 in 19 previous efforts. Tide of the Seas is owned by Three Diamonds Farm, who won three editions of the Connally with Bigger Picture.
“We gave him a break after Aqueduct,” said Maker of Tide of the Sea. “He's been training well.”
Maker's past Connally winners include Papa Bodie in 2012; Admiral Kitten in 2014; Coalport in 2015; Da Big Hoss in 2016 and a three-peat by Three Diamonds Farm's Bigger Picture who captured the 2017-2019 editions of the turf stakes. For the past two years, Maker's runners finished second to Dot Matrix in 2020 and Spooky Channel last year. With multiple entrants each year in the Connally, rounding out the exotics is not what Maker is aiming for on Sunday.
“I love coming over to Houston and winning the Connally is something I look forward to each year,” acknowledged Maker. “It will be a busy weekend, but I'm planning on winning the Pegasus and flying to Texas to get my winning streak back on track on Sunday!”
Maker's trio will have some very stiff competition from a number of quality turf runners including Fantasioso. Co-owned by Jeff Bloom and Ignacio Correas, IV, the 7-year-old Argentinian bred gelding, has won five of his 31 starts, and will make his Sam Houston debut off a third-place finish to Ajourneytofreedom in the aforementioned Allen Jerkins at Gulfstream Park. James Graham will pilot Fantasioso from post position six at morning line odds of 9-2.
“He's a seasoned veteran,” said Bloom, who purchased the son of Strategic Prince with Correas last year. “We have been looking at the Connally for some time as he's run twice at two miles, but we believe this distance will suit him. James rides a lot for Ignacio and is one of the more capable turf riders on the circuit.”
Team Block, who won the 2006 Connally with Fort Prado, returns to Houston with Another Mystery. Trained by Chris Block, the Illinois-bred son of Temple City ran sixth in the 2020 edition of this turf handicap. Jareth Loveberry will ride the 6-year-old, who captured the Bob F. Wright Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds in November.
“In the 2020 Connally, he was coming off just ten days rest, but still ran a good race,” said Block. “This is his best distance and a good to firm turf course on Sunday would be ideal. He will face a very competitive field this year but I am looking for a big effort from him.”
Trainer Joe Sharp will send in Logical Myth, a multiple-stakes winner for owner JPS Racing as well as Hierarchy, who surpassed the $400,000 earnings mark for Texas owner Carl Moore Management, LLC.
The John B. Connally Turf was awarded Grade 3 status in 2006 and boasts a solid roster of past winners including Chorwon, Warleigh, Fort Prado, Rod and Staff, Swift Warrior as well as three-time champions, Candid Glen and Bigger Picture.
The Connally Turf Cup will be run as race eight, with an approximate post time of 5:23 pm (CT).The field, from the rail, with riders and morning-line odds: Conviction Trade, Lane Luzzi, 20-1; Hierarchy, Corey Lanerie, 5-1; Tide of the Sea, Tyler Gafflione, 10-1; Strong Tide, Giovanni Franco, 10-1; Decision Maker, Marcelino Pedroza, Jr., 12-1; Fantasioso, James Graham, 9-2; Malthael, Reylu Gutierrez, 12-1; Logical Myth, Adam Beschizza, 6-1; Another Mystery, Jareth Loveberry, 8-1; Dyn O Mite, Stewart Elliott, 20-1; Ajourneytofreedom, Joel Rosario, 7-2; Parrot Head, Ernesto Valdez-Jiminez, , 30-1; Shady McGee (IRE), Richard Eramia ,30-1 and Celerity, Iram Diego, 50-1.
As previously announced, the tenth renewal of the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic will run as the seventh race on the Houston Racing Festival Card. The field of seven, from the rail, with riders and morning line odds, is as follows: Velvet Crush, Ry Eikleberry, 8-1); Audrey's Time, Corey Lanerie, 7-2; Pauline's Pearl, Joel Rosario, 6-5; Becca's Rocket, Adam Beschizza, 10-1; Champagne Affair, Ernesto Valdez-Jiminez, 30-1; Golden Curl, Tyler Gafflione, 20-1, and The Mary Rose, Reylu Gutierrez 3-1.
In addition to the two graded stakes on the Houston Racing Festival card, Sam Houston Race Park will present the following features:
$200,000 Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile- 3YO -1 Mile (T)
$100,000 Pulse Power Turf Sprint – 4&up – 5 Furlongs (T)
$75,000 Jersey Lilly Turf – 4&up F&M – 1 1/16 Mile (T)
$75,000 Stonerside Sprint – 4&up – 6 Furlongs
“We are proud of our Houston Racing Festival, which continues to attract top connections and offer an exceptional afternoon of quality racing,” said Frank Hopf, Sam Houston Race Park's Assistant General Manager. “Our thanks go out to our horsemen for marking our marquee day on their calendar, as well as our tremendous racing fans who support our entire meet with great enthusiasm.”
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Fully recovered from a career-threatening injury that cost her all of 2020, Shifty She, with her distinctive name and background, is ready for a stern test Saturday in the inaugural running of the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Presented by PEPSI (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
Peter Brant's Grade 1 winner Regal Glory, trained by Chad Brown, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16 miles turf test that drew a field of 11 stakes runners. Regal Glory will start from Post No. 4 with jockey Jose Ortiz. The lineup includes Robert amd Lawana Low's Sweet Melania, who edged Shifty She in the Suwannee River (G3) on Dec. 18, and Team Valor's Irish-bred Wakanaka, who will make her U.S. debut.
The $500,000 Filly and Mare Turf is the newest addition to Gulfstream Park's program of seven graded stakes topped by the sixth running of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) present by 1/ST Bet.
Shifty She, a Florida-bred daughter of Gone Astray, had won three of four starts as a 3-year-old in 2019 before going to the sidelines with a tendon injury.
“In this game you have to be very patient and I'm a very patient guy,” said Chris Pallas, who is the mare's co-breeder and co-owner.
Pallas credits the vets at Ocala Equine with the treatment that enabled her to resume her career.
“We got her back and she is just a pleasure to be around,” he said. “She's just a very smooth horse. When you watch her, she glides over the grass. She's very graceful and she loves what she's doing. That's really her mindset. She's all about the business and she loves to run.”
Since her return in April with new trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., the speedy daughter of Gone Astray has a record of 3-1-1 from seven starts, topped by a victory in the Noble Damsel (G3) on Oct. 23 at Belmont Park.
Chris Pallas and his brother-in-law George Klein bred the mare and Pallas is a co-owner in Pedigree Partners. Pallas and Klein were given the unraced broodmare Perilous Hope and they followed their plan to have the Phipps family mare Pure Profit on both sides of Shifty She's pedigree. Pure Profit's daughter, Educated Risk, is the third dam of Perilous Hope and her Hall of Fame daughter, Inside Information, is the third dam of the Florida-based sire Gone Astray.
“We had won a silent auction to a season with Gone Astray so we kind of did this for practically nothing. Here we are today,” Pallas said. “This is an expensive sport and if you can match up your pedigrees you can do this fairly inexpensively and you can get pretty lucky.”
Pallas, a longtime Fort Lauderdale resident, said there was a similar breeding approach with the graded-stakes winning sprinter Mambo Meister he co-owned from 2007 to 2012.
Shifty She – Pallas fashioned the name from her breeding – showed stakes ability while tiring and finishing fourth in her comeback race in April in an optional claimer and has been in stakes company since. At her best when on or near the lead, she led from gate to wire in the Noble Damsel.
“I was numb for three days after that. It was amazing. She had two really sharp works here and when you're an owner and you can come and watch the workouts, you learn a lot more about your horse than at a race. I knew she was ready to run. Everybody that handled her from here to Belmont was fantastic. Just being there that day, it was an overcast day, it was cool. She ran them off their feet. She just did her thing.”
Brant purchased Regal Glory for $925,000 in January of 2021 in the disbursement of the late Paul Pompa's racing stable. The daughter of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Animal Kingdom has been trained by Brown throughout her career. Last year, she won the Plenty of Grace at Aqueduct and De La Rose at Saratoga around a fourth in the Just a Game (G1) then finished second by a half-length to stablemate Blowout in the First Lady (G1) at Keeneland. In front from the start, she picked up the coveted Grade 1 victory in the Matriarch on Nov. 28 at Del Mar.
Sweet Melania, a 5-year-old daughter of American Pharoah, was in the money four times during a seven-race winless streak going into the Suwanee River. She stayed within striking distance of pacesetting Shifty She, engaged her in the stretch and earned her third graded stakes victory by a half-length. Sweet Melania, the 5-1 second choice on the morning line, will start from the rail.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher liked what he saw Saturday when the mare worked a half-mile in :48.98 at Palm Beach Downs.
“I thought her last race was one of her best. I think she's actually coming into this one even better,” Pletcher said. “This will be a more demanding race, but she's training like she's made a move forward since the last one. Hopefully she can step up.”
Charles Fipke's homebred Lady Speightspeare won the first four starts of her career, all at Woodbine in suburban Toronto, before finishing third as the 6-5 favorite after a troubled trip in the Tropical Park Oaks on Dec. 26. The daughter of Speightstown out of the Theatrical mare Lady Shakespeare, will have a new rider with Junior Alvarado. She drew Post No. 3 and is 8-1 on the morning line.
Fortune Racing's Bipartisanship won the Tropical Park Oaks at 19-1 for trainer Graham Motion and has two wins and a third in four starts since being imported from Ireland last year. She drew the outside post and is 20-1.
Stuart Janney's homebred 5-year-old In a Hurry finished third in the Suwannee River behind Sweet Melania and Shifty She. Her regular rider Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano has the mount on the daughter of Blame, who will start from Post No. 10.
Trainer Michael McCarthy will saddle Nicest, the Irish-bred daughter of American Pharoah. She was third in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (G1) and Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot before being imported last year. In her most recent start, she was second in the off-the-turf American Oaks (G1) on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.
Godolphin's Alms was seventh in the Suwannee River after missing by a neck in her previous start at Fair Grounds. Gift List will be making her first start for trainer Brian Lynch since finishing third as the favorite in the Wonder Again (G3) on June 3 at Belmont Park. Summer in Saratoga, trained by Joe Sharp, closed out the 2021 season with three wins in four starts. In her most recent race, she won the Blushing KD by a neck at Fair Grounds on Dec. 26.
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