Front-loaded meet opens with Ladies Classic card on the horizon

Sam Houston Race Park opens Friday night with its biggest program of racing on the immediate horizon. The track will be hosting the Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 24, with the $400,000 race for fillies and mares anchoring a card of four stakes that also includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Connally Turf Cup.

“We’re always excited this time of year,” said Andrea Young, president of the Houston track owned in partnership by Maxxam and Penn National Gaming.

Sam Houston is scheduled to race 32 dates through March 10, but the most prestigious will be the Houston Ladies Classic card, with the richest Thoroughbred race in Texas expected to draw Cassatt from the barn of trainer Larry Jones and the defending champ Rose to Gold. Young said the card will have a new wrinkle this year as Sam Houston will offer an all-stakes pick four that has a guaranteed pool of $100,000.

Sam Houston introduced the Houston Ladies Classic in 2013, and Young noted the 1 1/16-mile race would be run as a listed stakes for the first time this year.

“It got listed status, and hopefully another good running will be able to get a grade on it,” she said.

The Houston Ladies Classic was created in part to raise awareness of the racing program at Sam Houston, and a benefit of the stakes has been increased interest in the Connally Turf Cup and the Turf Sprint on the same card, said Young. In addition, she said the Houston Ladies Classic and its pairing with the Connally Turf Cup has played a role in bringing new stables to Sam Houston.

“Some of the guys who shipped in are actually now bringing outfits in for the meet instead of just shipping in for the stakes,” Young said.

Ken McPeek is one of the most prominent new trainers to send a division to Sam Houston, while Jack Van Berg, Ben Colebrook, and Jeff Thornbury also have stalls at the track. Trainer Bret Calhoun is back stabled at Sam Houston for the first time in about three years, he estimated, while Eric Reed has an expanded presence after testing the waters at the meet a year ago. Sam Houston received requests for 2,000 stalls, said Young, for the track’s 1,200 stalls.

Gerardo Mora and Deshawn Parker are back to lead a riding colony that includes Fabio Arguello Jr., David Cabrera, Roman Chapa, Jacob Radosevich, Ken Shino, and Lindey Wade.

Fred Hutton is the new racing secretary at Sam Houston, where purses are projected to average $170,000 a program, said Young.

Sam Houston’s wagering format this meet will feature a $20,000 pool guarantee on the late pick four Saturday nights. The bet, along with all pick threes, pick fours, pick fives, and daily doubles, will have a reduced 12 percent takeout.

Sam Houston’s stakes schedule, which is worth $1.2 million, opens Friday night with three divisional Texas-bred stakes for females as part of Texas Champions Weekend. There are four stakes for males Saturday night. Lasting Bubbles will defend her title in Friday night’s first stakes, the $50,000 Yellow Rose for fillies and mares at six furlongs. She won four stakes overall last year as part of a 5-for-10 season for trainer Kevin Peek.

The $50,000 Bara Lass follows for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs, while a large, competitive group of 12 goes in the $50,000 San Jacinto for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Vilao is the race’s defending champ in a field that includes Expect Royalty, winner of her last three races, and the multiple stakes winner Molly’s Honour.