Patrona Margarita to be freshened

Patrona Margarita, the Texas-bred who won the Grade 2 Pocahontas last year at Churchill Downs, is getting a break, trainer Bret Calhoun said. She ran Saturday at Lone Star Park and finished fourth as the favorite in a $65,000 division of the Texas Stallion Stakes.

Patrona Margarita had shipped in from Kentucky.

“She made the trip well,” Calhoun said. “Everything went well for her. She seemed like she adjusted down here well, acclimated good, expected a good race out of her. At the end of the day, I think all of the problems we had this winter with infections, the antibiotics, I think it’s just caught up with her. She’s a tired horse. I think she just needs a good rest right now.”

Calhoun said that when jockey Jamie Theriot started to ask Patrona Margarita for run on Saturday, there was little response.

“I knew we were in trouble at the half-mile pole,” Calhoun said. “We weren’t going anywhere.”

Patrona Margarita was fourth in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds and third in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland earlier this year before running 12th in the Kentucky Oaks. She is a half-sister to millionaire Texas Chrome and she races for her breeder, Craig Upham.

◗ Bryan McNeil, who won his third Will Rogers Downs riding title May 19 in Oklahoma, is now based at Lone Star Park. The 34-year-old son of retired jockey Tony McNeil said his agent is Cary White.

Bryan McNeil will ride Hannahanna in the featured fifth race Friday night at Lone Star for trainer Roger Engel. The optional $30,000 claimer for fillies and mares will be run over 7 1/2 furlongs on turf. Hannahanna is moving back into the region after racing in Kentucky and Florida.