Brave Nation makes rare turf start in debut for Diodoro

Brave Nation adds West Coast flavor to the eclectic group of older horses that has come together for the featured eighth race Tuesday at Lone Star Park.

The allowance, for those who have not won a race this year, will be run over a mile and a sixteenth on turf. The field of nine includes Lamartine, a two-time Group 1 winner in his native Brazil; Lookin At Lee, the runner-up in the 2017 Kentucky Derby; and regional stakes winners In the Navy, Pacific Typhoon, and Budro Talking.

The nine-race card Tuesday has three other allowances, two of them first-level offerings for horses bred in Texas and the other an entry-level spot for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf. The program also includes a pair of maiden special weight races for 2-year-olds.

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Brave Nation is a Grade 3 winner making his first start for trainer Robertino Diodoro after moving into this region. He enters Lone Star’s feature off a fifth-place finish as the favorite in a Jan. 4 allowance at Golden Gate.

“He’s a very classy horse,” Diodoro said. “He’s been training very well. After his January start in Golden Gate they gave him a short little break. We started him back at Turf Paradise, training and working. I think he’ll run well off the layoff.”

The race will be a rare turf appearance for Brave Nation, whose last start on the grass came in May 2019 at Golden Gate. He closed for fifth in a first-level allowance at a mile. The race Tuesday will be the third on turf for Brave Nation.

“We were very limited on options and we wanted to [get him started],” Diodoro said. “His one turf race at Golden Gate, he was coming off a layoff and he got beat five lengths in an allowance race to a couple of decent horses. I don’t know if a guy can say for sure he doesn’t like the grass. He’s a Pioneerof the Nile out of a Pulpit mare. He’s got to like it a little bit.”

Brave Nation’s dam, Pull Dancer, also is the dam of Good Samaritan, a Grade 2 winner on the grass who overall earned $1.3 million.

Brave Nation on Tuesday will break from post 6, with Ramon Vazquez to ride for Gordon Christoff.

Lamartine will break from post 2, with Stewart Elliott up for Phoenix Thoroughbred III and trainer Steve Asmussen. The horse registered his Group 1 wins on turf, at “about” distances of a mile and a mile and a quarter. The victories came in the fall of 2018 and he’s since won in North America.

In the Navy is stretching back out around two turns off a sprint stakes start at Fair Grounds. His last win came at a mile and a sixteenth on turf, in the $60,000 Frank L. Brothers Stakes in September at Louisiana Downs. Richard Eramia has the mount from post 9 for trainer Scott Gelner.