Country Candy has favorable post position in Two Altazano

Country Candy will have a favorable post position Saturday night when she takes on a Bret Calhoun-trained trio in the $65,000 Two Altazano division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Sam Houston. The race for 3-year-old fillies is one of two restricted stakes on the card.

The $65,000 Jim’s Orbit division of the Texas Stallion Stakes is led by Shaded, Imma Wild Bling, and Raising Rumors.

Country Candy will break from post 7 in the seven-horse field, while Calhoun trainees Gold Shock, Kat’s Infatuation, and Archer City drew the inside three posts. The race is for the offspring of nominated stallions, and Country Candy won the most recent division in November at Retama Park.

“The outside post puts all the cards in our hands to try to determine what we want to do,” said J.R. Caldwell, who trains Country Candy for Keene Thoroughbreds. “We’ve got natural speed, so we can either be on the lead or sit just off of it.”

Country Candy was a two-time stakes winner last year at 2; among her wins was the $60,000 Evangeline Downs Princess in August. She also ran third in the $100,000 Debutante at Churchill. She enters the Two Altazano off a sixth-place finish in the $125,000 Dixie Belle on Jan. 21 at Oaklawn.

“I was a work short going into the Dixie Belle [but] took a shot, knowing she fires good fresh,” Caldwell said. “It hit us right in the head at the eighth pole. We’ve come back after that and had a couple of real nice works under our belt.”

Since the Dixie Belle, winner Chanel’s Legacy has won the $125,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn, while Country Candy’s breezes have included a half-mile in 48 seconds Feb. 4. The move was the second-fastest of 79 at the distance that morning at Oaklawn. David Cabrera has the mount on Country Candy, a daughter of the Gone West stallion Intimidator.

Gold Shock will break from the rail when she makes her 3-year-old debut Saturday. She was edged by a neck in the Texas Stallion Stakes that Country Candy won at Retama and earlier in the season was third to Chanel’s Legacy in the $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial at Remington Park. Gold Shock will add blinkers; Lindey Wade has the mount for Doug Scharbauer.

Kat’s Infatuation, in post 2, makes her stakes debut following back-to-back wins at Delta. She won a maiden special weight sprint Nov. 5, then accounted for a conditioned allowance around two turns in her last start Dec. 30. C.J. McMahon is in to ride for Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch.

Archer City, who drew post 3, wired a first-level allowance-sprint field by nine lengths Jan. 28 at Sam Houston. Deshawn Parker has the mount for Scharbauer.