Maker goes three deep in Connally Turf Cup

Trainer Mike Maker is attacking the Grade 3, $250,000 Connally Turf Cup on Sunday at Sam Houston Race Park for good reason. His stable, which won the 1 1/2-mile race a year ago with Da Big Hoss, will be represented by three starters in the eight-horse field: Bigger Picture, Greengrassofyoming, and Oscar Nominated.

“Right now, we have an abundance of marathon turf horses,” Maker said, “and in wintertime, not having many of those opportunities, it fits us very well.”

The Connally is part of a program of five stakes that includes the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic. The races will be run on a special afternoon card that starts at noon Central. Sam Houston has a reduced takeout of 12 percent on its multirace wagers at this meet, including doubles and pick threes.

Oscar Nominated, who advanced to last year’s Kentucky Derby after winning the Grade 3 Spiral at Turfway, made a notable move back to the grass for the second half of 2016. He ran well in a series of graded stakes and captured the $346,000 Dueling Grounds Derby in September at Kentucky Downs. Oscar Nominated enters the Connally off a runner-up finish in the Tropical Park Derby at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 31 at Gulfstream.

“This is something I’ve felt all along is going to be his best distance, so I look forward to giving it a try,” said Maker, who has given the mount to Florent Geroux.

Greengrassofyoming will be moving back to 1 1/2 miles after missing by a nose last out in the $75,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 17 at Fair Grounds. His last win came at the Connally distance in the Grade 3 Stars and Stripes in July at Arlington Park. Robby Albarado has the mount.

“It doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot of pace in the race, so having said that, I like to think his class will have him a lot closer than he normally is,” Maker said.

Bigger Picture will be returning to turf after an eighth-place finish in the $190,000 Claiming Crown Jewel on the main track Dec. 3 at Gulfstream. His last win came on grass in the Grade 3 Red Smith Handicap on Nov. 12 at Aqueduct.

“He’d run on the dirt earlier in his career, so we thought we’d give it a shot,” Maker said of the Claiming Crown. “It didn’t work out. He had a couple of weeks freshening on the farm and has come back and has done as well as he always had.”

Bigger Picture’s efforts last year also included a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland. He will be ridden by Jose Ortiz.

Others in the Connally include Hay Dakota, the winner of the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf in November at Churchill Downs for trainer Joel Berndt, and Phantom Trip, who captured the $170,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup in October at Remington Park for trainer Clinton Stuart.

◗ Hogy, who was edged by a Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner in October when second to Mongolian Saturday in the Grade 3 Woodford at Keeneland, is one of 12 in the $75,000 Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint. Hogy enters off a third-place finish in the $75,000 Bonapaw at Fair Grounds. Joe Rocco Jr. has the mount for trainer Scott Becker.

◗ En Hanse will be chasing his third straight win when he takes on 12 others in the $50,000 Space City, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds. Ortiz has the mount for Maker.

◗ Artistic License, a winner of six of her last seven starts, is part of an 11-horse field for the $50,000 Houston Distaff for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The field also includes Penguini, the winner of the Ricks Memorial on the Oklahoma Derby undercard in September at Remington Park.