Sam Houston: Slamit ships in to take Spring Dodge

Slamit drew clear by 1 1/2 lengths over King Coral to win the $50,000 Spring Dodge for 3-year-olds in his stakes debut Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park. The race was his first against winners, following a maiden special weight score at Oaklawn Park.

Slamit ($11.20) settled off the pace set by Isharuler, who led the field through fractions of 23.60 for the opening quarter and 46.80 for the half-mile. Slamit overtook that one in the stretch, and won the one-mile race run on a muddy main track in 1:38.93.

“I was loving the early pace,” said Chris Landeros, who rode Slamit for trainer Tim Ice. “They set it up beautifully for me. He’s a very professional horse and did everything right.”

Slamit races for the partnership of Black Gold Racing. He won his maiden at Oaklawn in February.

“He’s a very nice colt,” Ice said. “The owners sent him up to me from Gulfstream thinking maybe he needed a different surface. He adjusted well and after his win, was training forwardly for this race. I thought he handled the conditions well tonight and Chris was very patient and did a great job with him.”

Powerpointer finished third in the Spring.

Sam Houston closes its meet on Monday.