Sunlit Song stands out on opening day at Sam Houston

Sunlit Song has been a constant force on the Texas racing scene for years and his presence in Friday night’s seventh race at Sam Houston Race Park is one of the highlights of the meet’s season opener. Sam Houston’s meet will extend for 43 dates, through April 7.

Sunlit Song is an 18-time winner who has earned more than $700,000. The 9-year-old has earned championship titles from the Texas Thoroughbred Association and is coming off his second win in Oklahoma’s richest offering for turf runners, the Remington Park Green.

The feature on Friday’s eight-race opener is a conditioned allowance for 4-year-olds and up that carries an optional claiming price of $50,000. The field will travel a mile on turf, and several of the starters are candidates for stakes later in the season at Sam Houston.

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Sunlit Song will break from post 4 under Stewart Elliott, who is coming off the riding title at Remington. Sunlit Song went 5 for 6 last year for owners Carolyn Barnett and Becky Harding and trainer Mindy Willis. Sunlit Song is a five-time winner over the turf course at Sam Houston.

Others with ties to Remington settled in for the Sam Houston meet include Miss Code West, who was the horse of the meet in Oklahoma after going 4 for 4 for her Texas-based ownership of Jeff and Julie Puryear.

Sam Houston’s stakes schedule will feature 22 races worth a total of $2.5 million. The program is topped by a pair of Grade 3 races, the $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic and $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup, which will share a card Jan. 27. There are three other stakes supporting the graded offerings. Texas Champions Day, which features seven divisional stakes for horses bred in Texas, is set for March 23.

Bryan Pettigrew has been named the new vice president and general manager for Sam Houston.

“We are committed to presenting an exciting racing season and engaging horseplayers, no matter their level of experience,” Pettigrew said in a press release. “Our goal in hosting live racing and promotions on weekend afternoons is to create a festive atmosphere for both racing enthusiasts and casual fans.”

The reach of Sam Houston’s signal is again expected to be limited this meet due to an ongoing impasse between the Texas Racing Commission and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. It restricts the track’s races to being simulcast only to other tracks in Texas and international sites.

Sam Houston will race Friday nights, and in the afternoons on Saturdays, Sundays, and holiday Mondays in January and February.

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