Caliente Star and her owner look to stay unbeaten in Natural State

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Caliente Star and owner Jama Lopez have never lost a race, and trainer Tammy Hornsby is hoping that will still be the case following the $150,000 Natural State on Sunday at Oaklawn Park.

But no pressure.

“No, none at all,” quipped Hornsby.

Caliente Star, the first horse owned by Lopez, will be putting a 3 for 3 record on the line in the Natural State. The one-mile race, which ends at the sixteenth pole, is for fillies and mares bred in Arkansas.

It has drawn a deep cast of 10 that includes a capable trio from the barn of trainer Randy Morse. He sends out last year’s winner, Kantex, stakes winner Punchy Girl, and the up-and-coming Appealing Addie.

Caliente Star has won her starts, all sprints, by a combined margin of 12 lengths. The daughter of Tapiture and the stakes-winning mare Caliente Candy began her career in December at Oaklawn and enters the Natural State off a closing win in the track’s $150,000 Rainbow Miss for 3-year-old fillies on April 6.

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“She’s just kind of a natural, and she never misses an oat,” Hornsby said. “She’s just done everything right. First start, she came out of the one hole, then we came back in a [conditioned allowance] against older horses and she did great there. We came back in the stakes and she didn’t have the best trip and she got that done. Now we’re trying long against older horses. It’s a little scary, but I think she’ll love it. She’s easy to rate and she just kind of drew off in her sprints and we’re hoping she can go a couple more furlongs. I think she can, but it’s against older horses.”

Francisco Arrieta, who has ridden Caliente Star in her three starts, has the mount from post 4.

“She’ll probably be a little closer, but it just depends on how the race sets up,” Hornsby said. “Arrieta is the best at just knowing where to put them. We’ll let him do what he needs to do.”

Hornsby, 57, has been a regular at Oaklawn since 2013 and said this is the best meet she’s had in Hot Springs. The former assistant trainer and exercise rider began training in 2011.

“It’s been a dream meet,” she said. “Coming into the meet, if you said, ‘You’ll win seven, eight races – a couple of stakes and three or four allowances,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah, right.’ ”

Hornsby, whose barn is primarily comprised of Arkansas-breds, is preparing a 2-year-old half-brother to Caliente Star for the races. Following the Oaklawn meet, Hornsby’s barn will head to Prairie Meadows.

“Last year was the first year we went there and we had our best meet here, so we’re going to repeat it,” said Hornsby, who has 12 horses at Oaklawn and will bring 20 to Iowa.

For now, however, her focus is on Caliente Star’s bid to remain unbeaten when she runs in the Natural State.

“So far she’s never let me down, so I’m optimistic – and happy to be in it,” Hornsby said.

Kantex won last year’s Natural State over Bennykayandsuzytoo, who on Sunday could set the pace from her rail post. Kantex will start from post 6, and Morse has given the mount to Rafael Bejarano.

Kantex was bred by Morse and Randy Patterson, and she also races for the partnership. She is a daughter of Street Strategy, who was recently named the 2024 stallion of the year by the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association.

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