Texas Red pointed to FrontRunner Stakes
DEL MAR, Calif. – Texas Red is a candidate for the $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes for 2-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita after winning a one-mile maiden race in his third career start Wednesday.
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux for his brother, Keith, Texas Red ($8) closed from eighth in a field of 10 to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:37.91. Texas Red rallied on the inside to take the lead in the final furlong, pulling away from the pacesetter, Secreto Primero.
Owned by a partnership that includes Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar, Lee Michaels, and Keith Desormeaux, Texas Red had finished second and fourth in maiden special weight races for sprinters at Arlington Park and Del Mar in July.
“We’ve been excited about him for a long time,” Keith Desormeaux said. “He’s got the scope and the pedigree.”
Desormeaux said he is hopeful that Texas Red, by Afleet Alex, can go from the FrontRunner to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.
“It’s nice to see it come to fruition,” he said. “It’s got to be the FrontRunner, but no mistakes can be made. The Breeders’ Cup is a long-term goal.”
** Desormeaux will not have a starter in the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies Aug. 30. La Grange, who won the Cinderella Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 13 and was second Aug. 6 in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes, has been sidelined with a pulled muscle in a shoulder.
Desormeaux suspects that the injury occurred when La Grange stumbled at the start of the Sorrento.
“She stumbled pretty hard,” he said. “We’re going to give her time to heal.”
Desormeaux said he is hopeful that La Grange can recover in time to run in the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita.