Eight stakes winners meet in Houston Ladies Classic

A collection of some of the best fillies and mares in the region have landed in the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic on Saturday at Sam Houston, with the field of nine boasting eight stakes winners, including Hoosier Philly and Alpine Princess.

“I think this race is certainly a race that is a great way to try to kick off the year for any older mare and it shows by all the horses that entered it,” said Tom Amoss, who trains Hoosier Philly. “It’s not in our backyard, but it’s next door, which is nice.”

Hoosier Philly is shipping in from Louisiana for the Houston Ladies Classic, a 1 1/16-mile race that anchors the annual Houston Racing Festival. The card begins at 1 p.m. Central and features five stakes in all, including the $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup and the $100,000 Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile.

The races, which are being simulcast only within Texas and to international sites because of an ongoing impasse between the Texas Racing Commission and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, can be seen on the Sam Houston website and on RTN.

The Houston Ladies Classic field includes three runners from trainer Steve Asmussen – Recharge, Our Pretty Woman, and Our Flashy Lass – as he seeks his sixth win in the meet’s richest race. Free Like a Girl, an earner of $2.1 million, and Miss Code West, a two-time horse of the meet at Remington Park, add further depth to the field.

Hoosier Philly is a Grade 2 winner who could go over $1 million in earnings with a win. The half-sister to American Promise, who runs in the Southwest on Saturday at Oaklawn, enters the Houston Ladies Classic off a victory in the Joseph E. “Spanky” Broussard Memorial on Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. She will break from post 5 under Edgar Morales.

“I think she’s going to be prominent,” Amoss said. “I don’t think it’s a race that’s exclusive to one or two speed horses. I think the race is going to be an honest pace up front and that’s where Edgar Morales is going to have to use his judgment.”

Alpine Princess will start from post 4 under Manny Franco.

“She’ll be forwardly placed,” said trainer Brad Cox.

Alpine Princess was a nine-length winner of the Remington Park Oaks over Miss Code West in September. From there, Alpine Princess ran second by a head in the Grade 3 Comely last out at Aqueduct.

“We kind of tracked and were kind of a little wide throughout in a short field,” Cox said. “She ran a big race. I think the trip kind of cost us that day. It’s just the way the race unfolded and no fault of anyone’s – just second best at the wire.

“I’m hopeful she can win a graded stakes. I think this is a great opportunity again for her, and she’s trained well since the race at Aqueduct.”

John B. Connally Turf Cup

Johny’s Fireball’s sire Tonalist won over the 1 1/2-mile distance of the Connally on dirt in the Belmont Stakes and his son will attempt to match the feat on turf. The Connally drew a competitive group that includes past winner Another Mystery, Grade 2 winner Verstappen, and Grade 3 winner Sugoi for perennial Connally-winning trainer Mike Maker.

Johny’s Fireball enters off a second-level allowance win at 1 1/8 miles on turf Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs. He delivered as the favorite in his first start since August and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.

“For a long time we wanted to get him to go a mile and a half, or at least longer distances, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to try it after the nice allowance win,” trainer Norm Casse said. “He just seems like he’s a horse that runs better when he can get comfortable early, and going a mile and a half he should be able to that.”

Johny’s Fireball will break from post 2 under Franco in the field of 12.

“He could be on the lead, he could be sitting right off of it,” Casse said. “The main thing for him is to just get him out there, get in the clear, so to speak, and just be up in the bridle, kind of doing things the way he wants to do them.

“I imagine he’ll have a pretty advantageous trip. If he can go a mile and a half, he’ll do it.”

Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile

Chasing Liberty will be looking for his third stakes win when he starts in the Bob Bork Turf Mile. He enters off a victory in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at the same distance in November at Del Mar.

“It was first time going a mile, which we were hoping that he would appreciate, and he was real professional,” said trainer Rob Atras, who won this race last year with Neat. “He broke sharp, he sat close, and he finished up real good, so we were real proud of his effort there.

“We gave him a little break after that race, just for a couple of weeks at the farm where he grew up, at Twin Creeks, and we brought him down to Fair Grounds with the intention to get him ready for this race.”

◗ Glee meets newcomer Modo in the Bara Lass, while the Groovy is led by Ring Seeker.

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