Comin Thru wins blanket finish at Sam Houston

Comin Thru kept Stolis Winner from becoming the all-time richest Quarter Horse on Friday night, when he won the $50,000 Sam Houston Classic in a blanket finish. Stolis Winner finished sixth as the 4-5 favorite, and needed a win to surpass Refrigerator’s record of $2,126,309 in earnings. Stolis Winner was the world champion Quarter Horse of 2008.

Comin Thru ($16) covered the 440 yards in 21.60 seconds, for a nose win over Point of Deception. Rodrigo Vallejo was aboard the winner for Mickey Tiner and trainer Judd Kearl.

Stolis Winner did not get a clean break, and was beaten a nose and three heads in the race that featured a dead heat for third. He came into the Classic off a win in the Grade 1 Texas Challenge Championship.

Heath Taylor, who trains Stolis Winner, said earlier this week that the horse could develop into a candidate for the $100,000 Refrigerator Handicap at Lone Star Park on Oct. 2. The race is named for the earnings record-holder, who won three runnings of the Champion of Champions between 1992-94.