Redatory among notables in crowded Houston Turf field

Allen Dupuy was the regular rider of Bucharest, who ranks as one of the most significant dirt horses in the history of Sam Houston Race Park.

These days, Dupuy is a trainer, and the star of his barn excels on turf. Redatory is a four-time stakes winner who will start as a top contender Saturday night in the $75,000 Houston Turf at Sam Houston.

The 1 1/16-mile race for 4-year-olds and up bred in Texas is one of four restricted stakes on the card. The program is expected to produce starters for the Texas Champions Night series of stakes in March.

Redatory won the three major Texas-bred turf route stakes run in the state in 2019, starting with the Richard King on Texas Champions Night last March and continuing with the Assault in July at Lone Star Park and Texas Hall of Fame Stakes in September at Retama Park.

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He was one of 13 horses entered in the Houston Turf, but Mr Money Bags will be scratched, according to trainer Mike Neatherlin, and Direct Dial is entered for the main track only. They are both Texas-bred horses of the year. The chief rivals for Redatory include Bonjour Baby and Sunlit Song, both of whom exit the allowance prep at Sam Houston.

Dupuy is a 62-year-old native of Marksville, La., who retired from race riding in 2004. He has an 18-horse stable at Sam Houston led by Redatory, who races for his breeder, Texas resident James Wessel.

“I’ve got mostly Texas-breds,” said Dupuy, who has been based in the state since 1992. “He’s my top horse. It means a lot to my little stable – having a horse like him is a big plus.

“I trained the momma and his sister. The mare had three foals, two stakes winners.”

Bubba Bling is the other stakes winner, said Dupuy, and the horse goes for other connections in the Jim’s Orbit on Saturday night at Sam Houston. Both horses are out of the mare My Silver Song, while Bubba Bling is by Too Much Bling and Redatory is by Oratory.

Redatory last raced Jan. 31 and finished fourth in an optional $50,000 claiming race at Sam Houston. It came over a mile on turf, and the start was his first since September.

“For some reason, he got kind of trapped on the inside,” Dupuy said. “It just didn’t work out for him.

“He’s doing good. We’re ready for the race.”

Deshawn Parker has the mount on Redatory, who will break from post 4.

“His running style, he sits about second or third,” Dupuy said. “He has a lot of speed.”

So did Bucharest, whose defining win came in the 1996 running of the Sam Houston Sprint Championship. He led throughout for an 11-length win and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 109. Before that race, Bucharest won an allowance by 9 1/4 lengths at Sam Houston, with a Beyer of 104.

The first stakes on the card is the $75,000 Miss Houston Turf at a mile and it’s for fillies and mares bred in Texas. Shes Our Fastest, Corluna, and Texas Belle figure to start as leading contenders, while Neatherlin will counter with Brazos Angel. She is coming off a runner-up finish in an allowance prep for breeder and owner Champion Equine Performance Horses.

“I think she’s going to represent herself well,” Neatherlin said.

Brazos Angel will break from post 10 under Ernesto-Valdez Jiminez, who is the regular rider of Mr Money Bags.

“She’ll be toward the front end,” Neatherlin said.

Stillatune will be going for her third straight win when she starts in the $75,000 Two Altazano, a Texas Stallion Stakes race for 3-year-old fillies over six furlongs. Stillatune has won her maiden and an allowance in her last two starts. David Cabrera has the mount for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen also saddles Bubba Bling in the $75,000 Jim’s Orbit, another Texas Stallion Stakes for 3-year-olds over six furlongs. It’s for colts and geldings.

Bubba Bling is making his first start since winning a Texas Stallion Stakes division in September at Retama Park. Earlier in his career, he was second in the Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows.

Asmussen also sends out Good Judgement, who comes off a win at Oaklawn, and Lamp Oil, a first-time starter co-bred and owned by his father, Keith Asmussen.