Calhoun well-stocked on march to 250 stakes victories

Bret Calhoun is nearing 250 career stakes wins as a trainer, and horses like Ibaka, his most recent stakes winner with a score Tuesday at Will Rogers Downs, and Supermason, who just set a course record at Lone Star Park, figure to continue to fuel the success he has had in the Mid-South region that includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

But the stakes count for Calhoun, who was at 246 through Thursday, has also been built in locales like Kentucky, where he won a pair of Breeders’ Cup races in 2010.

Calhoun’s regional group will be attacking more stakes over the next month. Plans for Ibaka, who took down his sixth career stakes in the $55,000 Cherokee Nation Classic Cup, will be built around Oklahoma-bred opportunities at Remington Park.

“We’ll try to keep him fresh for Remington, so we won’t overrun him,” Calhoun said of the meet that opens in August. “I think we’ll keep him regionally, between Lone Star and Louisiana Downs, then focus on the Oklahoma program at Remington. Our target is to keep him fresh for that meet.”

Supermason was recently nominated to the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 30 after a course-record performance in a turf allowance May 15. Earlier this season, he won the first race of the Lone Star meet when he captured the $50,000 Premiere with a Beyer Speed Figure of 99.

“Our long-range goal is the Assault at Lone Star the last weekend of the meet,” Calhoun said of the $50,000 stakes on July 9. “We’ve got to fill in the blanks before then and [nominate] to the Lone Star Park Handicap. We’ll just kind of see what’s in there, if that’s right for us. He’s coming off two fast races. We might not run him back that quick.”

The July 9 program at Lone Star spotlights horses bred in Texas. Calhoun could have other stakes starters on the program, including Grade 3 winner Promise Me Silver. Calhoun said she is a candidate for the $50,000 Valor Farm Stakes.

Calhoun also has some quality Louisiana-breds in training, among them Grade 3 winner Jet Black Magic. He has been shopping for a spot for the multiple stakes winner and said she’s possible for the $100,000 Soiree on the Louisiana Legends program July 2 at Evangeline Downs.

Adrianne G, a recent winner at Lone Star who last out was third in an allowance at Evangeline, is on course for the $60,000 Tellike on June 3 at Evangeline, said Calhoun.

Calhoun is a Texas native who began training in 1994. He had 2,649 career wins through Thursday, for stable earnings of $66 million. Calhoun’s stakes starters number 1,461, with his 246-win count including 24 graded victories. His stakes starters have earned $21 million.