Da Big Hoss and Forever Unbridled sparkle at Sam Houston

As advertised, the Houston Racing Festival was a fantastic night of racing at Sam Houston Race Park. The quality of the four stakes races was unprecedented for the oval, and the performance of two horses in particular, lead me to believe that this is only the beginning for Da Big Hoss and Forever Unbridled. Their respective winning runs in the $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic, and the Grade 3 John B. Connally Turf Cup, look to have them well poised for really big years on a national level.

Let’s start with the turf … anyone who watched last night’s $200,000, 12-furlong turf affair could not come away anything but impressed with Da Big Hoss. This was the first year the Connally was run at 1 ½ miles, after being previously contested at nine furlongs, and the change did the trick in attracting its strongest field yet. Standing in the way of victory of Da Big Hoss was the hard hitting duo of Kaigun and Big John B. All three are good enough to compete against the best distance turf horses in the nation, but on Saturday night, it was only one who would truly shine under the Texas lights.

Piloted by Florent Geroux, Da Big Hoss quickly turned what appeared to be a very competitive race into an absolute runaway with an explosive move on the rail. In the blink of an eye, the pair went from just off the pace, to a clear leader early in the lane. Swooshing his tail the whole way, Da Big Hoss poured it on down the stretch to win by nearly five lengths. Kaigun and Big John B finished with interest to claim second and third, but were no match for the impressive winner.

The victory raised his lifetime record to a symmetrical 8 wins in 16 lifetime starts. It was also undoubtedly the best race yet for the five-year-old chestnut son of Lemon Drop Kid. It’s quite remarkable how far Da Big Hoss has come under the guidance of trainer Mike Maker. Claimed for $50,000 at the beginning of last summer, he has since won three stakes going long on the grass, including the John’s Call at Saratoga, and the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs. After seeing last night’s huge performance, it is easy to imagine him becoming a Grade 1 winner sooner than later.

Not to be outdone, the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic attracted a handful of graded stakes type fillies, but it is the winner who might have the ability to become much more than that. A daughter of the Kentucky Oaks winning mare, Lemons Forever, and a full sister to the Grade 1 winning Unbridled Forever, Charles Fipke’s homebred, Forever Unbridled, by Unbridled’s Song, is a filly going places. Sent off as the 6-5 favorite on the strength of a brave victory in the Grade 3 Comely in New York to close out her three-year-old season, Forever Unbridled turned in another big effort in winning her second consecutive graded stakes race.

Ridden by Joel Rosario for the first time, Forever Unbridled (pictured above) bided her time in the middle of the pack, as the second choice, and the defending race champion, Cassatt set all the pace as expected. That one remained strong into the Sam Houston stretch, but it was evident that Rosario was sitting on a ton of horse in the Dallas Stewart trained favorite. Sure enough, the rally of Forever Unbridled proved too much to handle, and she powered right on by on her way to a 1 3/4-length victory. Cali Star, a 5-year-old Street Cry mare, followed up her win in the Grade 3 Rampart at Gulfstream Park last time by closing strongly to get past Cassatt late for the second place check in the Houston Ladies Classic.

Much like Da Big Hoss, though, this one was all about the winner, and as is true with the Connally winner, I see Grade 1 racing to be very much within the realm of Forever Unbridled. The victory raised her lifetime resume to 9-3-2-2, while pushing her earnings over the $550,000 mark.

The Houston Ladies Classic was the first stakes of the Penn Gaming Racing Challenge. The national program, now in its third year, will incorporate over 20 stakes races in 2016 worth over $5.5 million. In its first two years of existence, the Penn Gaming Challenge has been won by top national owners in 2014, Mike Maker, Chad Brown in the trainer category, while Javier Castellano has been the top jockey in each of the first two years.

In other stakes action last night, and as the first two legs of a $100,000 guaranteed All-Stakes Pick 4, Midwest Thoroughbreds’ Galton won for the fifth time in the past ten months with a strong stretch run to beat nine other turf sprinters in the $75,000 Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint. It would seem that the versatile son of Offlee Wild may well be most at home at one-turn on the grass, so it will be interesting to see if he is now kept there to see what he can do in this division. Also, a promising young sprinter, Twirling Cinnamon, earned his first stakes win for trainer Brad Cox with a late burst to win the $50,000 Space City Stakes. It was his first race with blinkers, and since just missing in the Sugar Bowl Stakes last month at Fair Grounds.