Lone Star: JEH Stallion Station looks like ideal spot for Joy's Paradise to win first stakes

In less than three full years of racing Joy’s Paradise has won 7 of 21 races, on everything from fast to sloppy tracks, on turf to dirt, and at distances ranging from five furlongs to a mile.

One of the few things she hasn’t done is win a stakes race, something she has a strong chance to do Saturday at Lone Star Park when she faces Last Wager, Lady Giacamo, and eight other Texas-bred fillies and mares in the $50,000 JEH Stallion Station Stakes.

A 4-year-old daughter of Taste of Paradise, Joy’s Paradise has the credentials worthy of being a stakes winner, at least in Texas-bred company. Last year she twice ran third in open stakes, doing so in the $100,000 Cinemine at Lone Star in July and the $50,000 Ricks Memorial at Remington in the fall.

Her form has improved since under trainer Karl Broberg. This past winter, she twice won allowances at Sam Houston, where Broberg was leading trainer, and she followed those efforts with a runner-up finish in an open $50,000 allowance at Delta Downs behind stakes winner Sheer Beauty going 7 1/2 furlongs.

Broberg said he believes the key to her success of late has been cutting her back from the mile and 1 1/16-mile races in which she had been running. “We’re thankful we shortened her back up and that it’s paid immediate dividends,” he said.

The six-furlong distance of the JEH Stallion Station Stakes suits. Racing that distance at Houston on March 4, she easily defeated fellow JEH entrants Tin Top Cat, Sahalie, and Dixie Dust – posting an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

Quincy Hamilton returns aboard Joy’s Paradise, who is owned by H. L. Southard.

As for the opposition, Last Wager also ran an 81 Beyer in winning an allowance at Sam Houston during its recently concluded meet, and figures prominently if she can avoid a regression with the jump into her first stakes race.

Lady Giacamo, though she is a 3-year-old facing older mares for the first time, is a proven stakes performer. She won the TTA Sales Futurity last year at Lone Star and was most recently third in the Prima Donna Stakes at Oaklawn on March 26.

◗ Lone Star announced Wednesday it had reached a non-exclusive agreement with TVG to broadcast its races. Most television coverage is expected Thursday evenings, with TVG likely to choose selected races that fit into their programming on other days, Lone Star officials said.