The Mary Rose peaking for Houston Ladies Classic
The Mary Rose has confidence in spades coming into the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic on Sunday at Sam Houston Race Park.
“She’s doing fantastic right now,” said trainer John Ortiz.
The Mary Rose stepped outside of the Arkansas-bred ranks last out at Oaklawn Park and won a two-other-than allowance for fillies and mares by more than seven lengths. She earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 95 in the 1 1/16-mile route Dec. 31.
“She came out of that race knowing that she’s top-notch right now,” Ortiz said. “She’s very confident and strong.”
The Mary Rose races for her breeder, Shortleaf Stable. She will break from the outside post in the seven-horse Houston Ladies Classic. Reylu Gutierrez has the mount in the 1 1/16-mile race.
The complete field from the rail, with riders, is: Velvet Crush, Ry Eikleberry; Audrey’s Time, Corey Lanerie; Pauline’s Pearl, Joel Rosario; Becca’s Rocket, Adam Beschizza; Champagne Affair, Ernesto Valdez-Jiminez; Golden Curl, Tyler Gaffalione; and The Mary Rose.
The Houston Ladies Classic is the centerpiece of the annual Houston Racing Festival card of six stakes worth a total of $1 million. The meet’s richest program has 11 races and a first post of 1:45 p.m. Central. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, a high of 66 degrees, and a 25 percent chance of precipitation, according to AccuWeather.
The Houston Ladies Classic and the other Grade 3 race on the card, the $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup, will both be run Lasix-free in a change from a year ago. The purse for the Houston Ladies Classic was boosted from last season’s $300,000.
The Ladies Classic goes as the seventh race with an approximate post of 4:53 p.m. Central. The Connally is slated as the eighth race, with a post of 5:23 p.m. The 1 1/2-mile turf fixture drew 14 horses, with 12 making up the body of the race. It’s one of four turf stakes on a card that includes the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile for 3-year-olds that has been renamed for the late Sam Houston executive Bob Bork.
◗ Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, who raced champion Runhappy, will speak at a Friday night event at Sam Houston designed to attract new owners to racing. He will be joined by Mike Renfro, a racing executive and former Houston Oiler and Dallas Cowboy.
Renfro will be part of a second event for new owners on Saturday. The “new owner preview events” are being put on by the Texas Thoroughbred Association, which is promoting ownership of horses bred in Texas.
◗ Oaklawn is moving its first post a half-hour later, to 1 p.m. Central, starting Feb. 4, according to the racing office. The exceptions will be Feb. 26, April 2, April 23, and May 6-7, when first post will be noon Central.