Shotgun Kowboy wires Lone Star Park Handicap

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Shotgun Kowboy finally got his Lone Star Park Handicap.

The horse who finished third in this race last year and second in 2016 upset 2-5 favorite Mubtaahij on Sunday when he wired the field for a 1 1/2-length victory. Mubtaahij finished second in his first start since running third in the Dubai World Cup. Fear the Cowboy was another 2 1/2 lengths back in third.

The Lone Star Park Handicap was the co-richest race of the meet behind the Steve Sexton Mile on May 6.

Shotgun Kowboy ($11.20) broke on top and proceeded to set fractions of 24.29 seconds for the opening quarter, 47.63 for the half-mile and 1:11.65 for six furlongs. He went on to cover the 1 1/16 miles on a track rated fast in 1:44.84.

“My horse broke very sharply, like he normally does, and then he was able to get to the front and control the pace,” said Luis Quinonez, who was aboard for trainer C.R. Trout. “When they came to him, he rebroke again, and when he put the ears up down the lane, I said, ‘We got this.’ ”

Mubtaahij settled along the rail just off Shotgun Kowboy and South Beach, advanced on the final turn and did not threaten the winner in the lane. The start was his first since March 31.

“You know what, he kind of didn’t fire his ‘A’ race – just a bit flat,” jockey Mike Smith said. “I don’t know if maybe the trip to Dubai took a bit more out of him than we would have thought. He was just real quiet.”

Shotgun Kowboy came into the Lone Star Park Handicap off a third-place finish in the Steve Sexton Mile. He was winning for the first time at Lone Star after multiple placings in the track’s biggest races. Trout, who also bred and owns Shotgun Kowboy, loved how the race unfolded Sunday.

“I thought Luis rode him wonderful,” Trout said. “We knew the colt was ready to run. He’d just been training great, eating good, sleeping good. Long gallops, short breezes, kept him fresh, and today, nobody went with him.”

Trout said provided Shotgun Kowboy emerges from the Lone Star Park Handicap in good order he will be a candidate for the Grade 3 Cornhusker on July 6 at Prairie Meadows.

“We’ll see how he pulls up out of this race,” he said. “We may go back to Iowa.”

Shotgun Kowboy was second by a neck in the 2016 Cornhusker. For his effort in the Lone Star he earned $130,500. Shotgun Kowboy has now won 12 of 29 starts and $1,246,326. He is a 6-year-old by Kodiak Kowboy.

The fifty-cent late pick four on races 7-10 that included the Lone Star Park Handicap returned $4,329.25. Lone Star guaranteed the pool at $100,000, and the final pool was $138,547. The winning numbers were 9-12-3-7.