Challenge


John Deere Texas Juvenile Trials Draw 63 Entries
Sam Houston Race Park will host seven trials for the John Deere Texas Juvenile Challenge on Thursday's race card.

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John Deere Texas Juvenile Trials Draw 63 Entries

BY MICHAEL CUSORTELLI

HOUSTON, TX—APRIL 15, 2014—A total of 63 2-year-olds, 30 of whom will making their first career starts, has been entered in Thursday’s 350-yard John Deere Texas Juvenile Challenge trials at Sam Houston Race Park.

The 10 fastest qualifiers from the seven trial heats will meet in the $25,000-added final on Sunday, May 11.

Tony Yanez’s Star Of Orion, a brown daughter of champion Toast To Dash and the graded stakes winning Ronas Ryon mare Orions Dream, drew post 6 in the fifth trial. Star Of Orion made her debut with a 1 3/4-length victory in a 250-yard maiden special weight dash for fillies at Sam Houston on March 27.

Star Of Orion is trained by Brian Stroud. Sergio Fuentes has been named to ride the filly in Thursday’s trials.

Another recent maiden winner, Sashay Thru Pool, will break from the rail post in the fourth heat. A homebred filly by the graded stakes winning Shazoom stallion Pool, Sashay Thru Pool scored a 1 3/4-length win in a March 27 maiden special weight dash at Sam Houston.

Jose R. Espinosa trains Sashay Thru Pool for owner Eloy Garcia. The filly will be again be ridden by Cipriano Vidana on Thursday.

Dash N Special, a homebred filly by the First Down Dash stallion Down N Dash campaigned by Pete A. Scarmardo, is coming off of a half-length victory against Texas-bred maiden fillies on April 4. Guy Hopkins trains Dash N Special, who will be ridden by Francisco Calderon from post 4 in the first trial.

The winner of the John Deere Texas Juvenile Challenge final will earn a berth in the Grade 2, $150,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship at Prairie Meadows in October.

All Sam Houston Race Park races can be seen Q-RacingVideo.com.