Expect Royalty targets fifth straight win in Tomball Stakes
Expect Royalty, who will be seeking her fifth straight win Saturday night in the $50,000 Tomball at Sam Houston Race Park, is doing so well that she can hardly contain herself.
“She’s doing her little squealing, which means she’s ready,” said Leroy Pollok, who bred, owns, and trains Expect Royalty.
Expect Royalty is one of nine fillies and mares in the Tomball, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 4-year-olds and up bred in Texas. Others set to start include Molly’s Honour, a turf stakes winner over the summer at Lone Star Park, and Wampus Kitty and Smiles Golden Song, multiple stakes winners who finished first and second in last year’s Tomball.
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Key contenders
Expect Royalty (Last 3 Beyers: 81-81-94)
* She’s won half of her 12 career starts, with her current streak starting in a second-level allowance July 4 at Lone Star. From there, she won a $25,000 optional claimer that came off the turf Sept. 26 at Retama Park, the $50,000 Fiesta Mile at Retama on Oct. 18, and the $50,000 San Jacinto at 1 1/16 miles on turf Jan. 16 at Sam Houston.
“She’s a blessing to me,” said Pollok, who raised Expect Royalty at his St. Hedwig, Texas, farm near San Antonio.
* Expect Royalty raced closer to the pace than usual last time, when she tracked the leaders and rallied for a half-length win in the San Jacinto.
“The time was real slow in that stakes race, so it really didn’t set her up,” Pollok said. “It was a slow race, and she likes to come from behind. And in a slow race, it’s tough to get up there when horses are not rolling like you want, so that affected her a little bit.”
* Expect Royalty is by Valid Expectations and out of the Skywalker mare Autumn Sky, whom Pollok purchased as a yearling at Keeneland. Autumn Sky, whose racing career was cut short by a slab fracture, is a half-sister to the Louisiana Downs Handicap winner Big Hubie.
“She’s a big, beautiful mare, and I kept her for breeding,” Pollok said. “We wanted to put a little speed behind her with Valid Expectations.”
* Iram Diego, who has been aboard Expect Royalty through her streak, has the mount from post 9.
Molly’s Honour (Last 3 Beyers: 73-80-81)
* A stakes winner, she is the speed from the rail, having dueled to the late stages in the San Jacinto.