Quarter Horse champion Jrc Callas First returns in Sam Houston Classic

Jrc Callas First, the world champion Quarter Horse of 2014, will launch his 5-year-old season Saturday night in the Grade 2, $50,000 Sam Houston Classic. The 440-yard race will be the horse’s first start since December and he will face nine others, including stakes winners Pyro and Big Dashing Perry.

Jrc Callas First won seven straight races last year, including the Grade 1 Refrigerator at Lone Star Park and the Grade 1 Zia Park Distance Championship. The streak began last May in an overnight race at Sam Houston. Jrc Callas First last raced on Dec. 28 and after breaking next-to-last closed with a rush to finish fourth by a half-length in the Grade 1 Championship at Sunland Park.

“The horse doesn't believe he can be beat,” Brian Stroud, who co-owns and trains Jrc Callas First, said in a release from Sam Houston. “But, he had some minor surgery to remove a chip from his right knee, and this will be his first start back. We swam him and he's just been training for less than a month.”

Stroud said a good performance would send Jrc Callas First to the Grade 1, $250,000 Remington Park Invitational on May 30. Last year, the horse won 8 of 10 starts. He is co-owned by Dana Stroud and will again be ridden by Damian Martinez.