Bourbon Courage leads competitive field for Texas Mile
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Bourbon Courage will be part of what is anticipated to be a large, competitive field for Saturday night’s Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park near Dallas. The race is the first major stakes of the meet, and it had a working list of 10 or 11 possible starters as of Tuesday.
“That’s kind of where we sit now,” said Mike Shamburg, racing secretary at Lone Star.
Bourbon Courage, the winner of the Grade 2 Super Derby in 2012, will be joined in the gate by Taptowne, a multiple stakes winner who exits a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.; and Forest Mouse, a winner of his last three starts at Sunland who worked a bullet five furlongs in 59.20 seconds at Lone Star on Sunday.
Shamburg said the list of potential starters includes Grand Contender, who set a track record in the $150,000 Delta Mile; Smack Ridge, the winner of the $50,080 Winsham Lad at Sunland; Holiday Mischief, who captured last year’s $100,000 Prelude at Louisiana Downs; Texas Air, the winner of the $50,000 Star of Texas at Sam Houston; multiple stakes winners Stachys and Get in Da House; and allowance winner Proud Strike.
Evan’s Calling, a winner of his last three starts, is possible, said trainer Brad Cox.
Bourbon Courage will invade from Oaklawn, where in his last start March 15 he was second in a 1 1/16-mile allowance. He was to ship to Lone Star from Arkansas on Tuesday or Wednesday, trainer Kellyn Gorder said Monday.
“We left him there at Oaklawn, so it’s an easy ship,” Gorder said, referring to the track that closed its meet April 12. “He’s been training really well right now. It seems like he’s enjoyed training there. There hasn’t been too many horses on the racetrack. It’s kind of a quiet atmosphere for him.”
Gorder said Bourbon Courage breezed an easy half-mile Monday at Oaklawn.
Bourbon Courage, who would become a millionaire with a win Saturday, races for Bourbon Lane Stable and Wayne Lynn. Gorder said Monday he was firming up a rider for the horse. Entries were to be taken Wednesday.
The Texas Mile is the first leg of the Global Gaming Triple, the others being the Lone Star Park Handicap on May 26 and the Governor’s Cup at Remington Park in August. The horse earning the most points based on finishes in the three races wins a bonus for his owner and trainer. Global Gaming owns both Lone Star and Remington.
The Texas Mile will be run under the lights for the first time Saturday, with the card to start at 6:35 p.m. Central.
◗ Trainer Karl Broberg and jockey Junior Chacaltana, who teamed to win the final four races on the April 18 card at Lone Star, have one of the chief contenders in Thursday night’s eighth race, a first-level allowance for fillies and mares at a mile on turf. Expand the Moment has won three of her last four starts and is a candidate to wire the field.