Veteran runner SANDBURR (Sandpit [Brz]) put his experience to good use
Saturday night at Sam Houston, rallying from just behind the leaders in the
$100,000
Star of
Texas S. to earn his first stakes victory and take the feature race of the
eight-stakes Texas Champions Day card. In the process, the seven-year-old
gelding increased his earnings to $215,211 and pushed his mark to 45-11-5-10.
With Clifton Berry holding the reins, the Michael Stidham trainee settled
into fourth in the early going while running four wide. All the while, 2-5
favorite Senor Amigo (Distorted Humor) was setting the pace through splits of
:23 1/5, :46 4/5 and 1:12 2/5. Continuing his wide trip, Sandburr began to move
up on the final turn and powered down the stretch to take over through a mile in
1:37 4/5. Crossing under the line 1 1/4 lengths in front of his nearest rival,
the chestnut finished 1 1/16 miles on the fast dirt in 1:44 1/5.
“This is what racing is all about,” Stidham said. “An old horse like this who
came up from the claiming ranks. He’s a great horse and tries hard every time;
we love him.”
Sandburr ran third in the 2004 Jersey Village S. and added another black-type
third, in the Claiming Crown Jewel, to his record this year. Sent off the 7-2
third choice here while racing in the colors of Feel the Thunder Stable, he paid
$9.20, $4.80 and $4 while keying exotics of $48.20 (exacta), $187 (trifecta) and
$1,744.80 (9-1-3-4 superfecta).
One race earlier, Barnett Stables’ SWEET IDEA (Langfuhr) posted an almost
wire-to-wire win in the $75,000
Martanza
S. under Berry, finishing seven lengths clear on the line. The Bret Calhoun
charge finished the mile event in 1:37 4/5 to improve her line to 13-4-2-1,
$124,390. So far this year, the dark bay miss has captured the Sam Houston Oaks
and ran second in the Stonerside S. and Lone Star Oaks.
The day began with William Bright’s DADDY WARBUCKS (Valid Expectations)
taking the $50,000
Groovy S.
by a length under Roman Chapa. The Danny Pish-trained juvenile colt completed
seven furlongs in 1:25 1/5 to garner his second stakes win and move his record
to 5-3-1-0 with $130,986 in earnings. The fillies got their turn in the $50,000
Bara Lass
S. as Stewart Hamblen’s homebred WRENICE (Uncle Abbie) led nearly every step
of the way to post a 5 3/4-length victory. With Bobby Walker Jr. aboard, the
Randy Mayfield-conditioned dark bay ran seven furlongs in 1:24 2/5 and now
boasts a 8-5-2-0, $244,346, career mark, including three other stakes wins.
Don Eberts’ homebred NORTHERN SCENE (Northern Baby) finished second in the
Richard
King S. last year, but wasn’t to be denied in this season’s $50,000 edition.
The Morris Nicks trainee managed to get his head down for the win, stopping the
clock for nine furlongs on the firm turf in 1:53 3/5 under John Jacinto. The
five-year-old bay gelding earned his second stakes of the year in this one and
improved his line to 24-8-2-5, $255,630. History was made in the $50,000
San
Jacinto S., as for only the second time on Texas Champions Day two horses
dead-heated for the win. Not even a photo could separate Charles Hukill’s TUNNEL
TIME (Sand Tunnel) and Lucas Downs Ltd & Agave Racing Stable’s WILD ENCOUNTER
(Burbank) on the wire of the 1 1/16-mile turf test. The pair finished the race
in 1:46 3/5, 2 1/2 lengths clear of second. This was the first stakes win for
both distaffers, with the Hukill-trained Tunnel Time now owning a 50-6-6-12,
$119,495, record while the Michelle Lovell-conditioned Wild Encounter improved
her mark to 15-6-0-3, $75,745.
John L. Pierce II’s MYSTERY CLASSIC (Mystery Storm) set the pace in the
$50,000
Spirit of Texas S. with Walker aboard before finishing 1 3/4 lengths better
than his nearest rival. The Robert Schultz trainee got six furlongs on the dirt
in 1:09 4/5 to capture his second stakes and now boasts a 10-7-1-1, $128,970,
career line. Tom Durant’s homebred OPEN MEADOWS (Open Forum) was a length better
than her closest competition in the $50,000
Yellow
Rose S. to push her earnings to $173,500 and her line to 9-5-0-1. the Jack
Bruner trainee, with Justin Shepherd in the irons, ran three-quarters in 1:10
3/5 to add a fourth stakes win to her record.