Redatory seeks third straight stakes win in Assault

Redatory was a good horse last year when he won the first turf running of the $75,000 Assault at Lone Star Park.

He’s an even better horse coming into the race’s renewal Sunday.

“He’s getting bigger and stronger,” trainer Allen Dupuy said. “He’s a big old brute. He’s a big boy. He’s tough.”

The Assault, at a mile on the grass, will share a card with the $75,000 Valor Farm for fillies and mares at six furlongs. Both races are restricted to horses bred in Texas.

The card also drew Hunka Burning Love, the recent Lone Star Mile winner who makes a rare start on turf in a conditioned allowance that carries an optional claiming price of $40,000. Hunka Burning Love is seeking to win his fifth straight race.

Redatory has won stakes in his last two starts, both turf races for horses bred in Texas. He’s part of a field of nine that includes Kenai Bob, winner of the $75,000 Star of Texas last month at Lone Star who is making his second start on the grass.

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Redatory has been a flagship turf runner in Texas the past two years. Last season, he swept the state’s three main turf routes for older Texas-breds, which were held at Sam Houston, Lone Star, and Retama Park.

Last month, Redatory won the first leg of that triple in the $75,000 Richard King, which was moved from Sam Houston to Lone Star. Redatory sat just off the pace set by Sunlit Song for a head win in the 1 1/8-mile turf race on June 14.

“I didn’t think it set up good for him,” Dupuy said of Redatory. “I thought they went a little slow, and because of the pace it made it a little hard for him to go by that horse.

“I also think he was a little short on me last time. I was a little easier on him. He’s more ready this time.”

Dupuy said he expects Sunlit Song to again be a formidable rival, and he’s hoping for a different kind of setup for the versatile Redatory.

“It looks like there’s a little more speed in the race, and pace makes the race,” Dupuy said.

Lane Luzzi has the mount on Redatory, a son of Oratory who races for his breeder, James Wessel.

Sunlit Song has done some of his best work at a mile, with his last two wins coming at the trip on the course at Lone Star. He is looking for his first stakes win Sunday after running second or third in four prior stakes appearances. Lindey Wade has the mount from the rail for trainer Mindy Willis.

In the Valor Farm, Ima Discreet Lady is looking for her second straight stakes win at the meet. She is coming off a 4 1/2-length victory in the Yellow Rose, a Texas-bred sprint for fillies and mares moved to Lone Star from Sam Houston. It was run June 14.

Ramon Vazquez has the mount for trainer Karl Broberg.

Also in the seven-horse field is Brave Daisey, who won the Valor Farm in 2018 and was second in 2019.