Calhoun ships in pair of aces for Texas Hall of Fame Night
It’s a safe bet that Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer Bret Calhoun eventually will be inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Retama Park near San Antonio. But at present, Calhoun is looking to get into the track’s winner’s circle on Saturday night with such horses as Fly the Red Eye, who goes in the $50,000 Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Stakes, and He’s Comin in Hot, who is set for the $75,000 colts-and-geldings division of the Texas Stallion Stakes.
Calhoun is invading his home state for the races, which are among four restricted stakes on a card designed to complement 2015 inductions into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Retama is putting on a trackside gala to enshrine the latest class: Lukin Gilliland Sr., Stanley Beard, Sammy Jackson, Ken Armbrister, Dan and Jolene Urschel, and No Le Hace.
On the track, Retama also will put on the $75,000 fillies division of the Texas Stallion Stakes, led by the undefeated Fleet Grey, and the $50,000 Fiesta Mile, which drew the gritty, win-streaking racemare Expect Royalty.
Fly the Red Eye will meet Grade 3 Texas Mile winner Texas Air in the featured Hall of Fame, a 1 1/16-mile turf race. Fly the Red Eye will be moving back to the statebred ranks after finishing second in the $75,000 DeBartolo Memorial on Aug. 22 at Remington Park.
“He’s been very competitive in these races over the last couple of years, and I expect him to be tough on Saturday,” said Calhoun, who trains Fly the Red Eye for Brad Grady.
Calhoun also will be part of the most anticipated matchup of the night when He’s Comin in Hot, the winner of the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs, meets Texas Chrome, an undefeated multiple stakes winner, in the Texas Stallion Stakes. He’s Comin in Hot last raced at Saratoga, finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Sanford on July 25. There were a couple of reasons to target Saturday night’s race, said Calhoun.
“I thought the timing was good off his last race,” he said. “We kept him up out of the heat as long as we could, pointing for this race. It’s a good purse, and the horse looks like he fits very well.”
He’s Comin in Hot was a 3 3/4-length winner of the Bashford Manor in his fourth career start June 27.
“It was a very, very impressive race,” Calhoun said. “He didn’t show up like I thought he would his first couple of races; then he put it together. He broke his maiden impressively and came back and ran them off their feet in the Bashford Manor. It was an impressive race, and we thought that warranted going up to Saratoga.”
He’s Comin in Hot experienced significant trouble in the Sanford, a race in which first-place finisher Magna Light was disqualified. For the Texas Stallion Stakes, He’s Comin in Hot will break from post 2 under Jamie Theriot.
“He’s very versatile,” Calhoun said of He’s Comin in Hot. “He’s got a lot of seasoning, a lot of experience, and I think he’ll do whatever the situation calls for.”
Texas Chrome has a serious closing kick and has used it to win all three of his races, including the $111,000 colts-and-geldings division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park and the $100,000 Gold Rush Futurity at Arapahoe Park. Deshawn Parker has the mount for trainer Shea Stuart.
◗ Fleet Grey will attempt to improve her record to 3 for 3 while seeking her second straight stakes win in the fillies division of the Texas Stallion Stakes.
◗ Expect Royalty will be seeking her fourth straight win when she starts in the Fiesta Mile. She is 2 for 2 over the turf at Retama.