San Vandido is one of 79 juveniles entered in day one of the Sam Houston Futurity-G2 on Friday.

© Hodges Photography

By Leann Noguera, StallioneSearch

HOUSTON, TX–MAY 20, 2025–Seventy-nine two-year-olds will compete across eight trial races Friday evening at Sam Houston Race Park, as Day One of the $150,000-added Sam Houston Futurity-G2 trials begins.

The top five fastest qualifiers from each day of trials will advance to the final, set to be held on Friday, June 14. Day Two of the 350-yard trials will continue on Saturday, featuring additional hopefuls looking to join Friday’s top qualifiers in the final field.

Among the group lining up on Friday, San Vandido and Texas Pharaoh have emerged as early leaders, each bringing strong credentials, proven connections, and experience against tough competition.

San Vandido: Stakes-Placed and Ready
San Vandido enters off two solid efforts at Delta Downs. After a debut maiden win, the San Lorenzo colt finished third in the $347,000 Louisiana Downs Futurity-G2, showing the ability to compete at the stakes level early on.

Bred and owned by Omar Arriaga, San Vandido is out of Roma, a daughter of Ivan James. Jose Sanchez trains him and will once again be ridden by Eddie Sanchez in Race 5. With $37,657 in earnings from just two starts, he brings experience and has already shown he can compete at the stakes level.

Texas Pharaoh: Big Tag, High Expectations
Texas Pharaoh, a $120,000 TQHA Yearling Sale purchase, brings graded stakes experience into the Sam Houston trials. The Tempting Dash gelding, out of a One Famous Eagle mare named Famous Eagle, finished second in his trial and fourth in the final of the $365,000 West Texas Futurity-G2 at Sunland Park.

Owned and trained by Michael G. Valenzuela, he has earned $27,349 from two starts and will be ridden by Oscar Andrade, Jr. in Race 4. With a strong pedigree and proven stakes form, he looks well-positioned to qualify for the finals.

Other Notables
Several other juveniles who entered the trials have shown positive early potential.

Candied Egg, by Good Candy P and out of Apollitical Eagle, won at her trial heat at Sunland Park and was a finalist in the West Texas Juvenile Stakes for R Bar C, LLC. She is trained by Marc Jungers and is starting in Race 2.

Chilley, a Chilitos colt trained by Miguel Castillo, comes in off a maiden win at Remington and starts in Race 2 under Victor Urieta, Jr.

Hock Your Kisses, a filly by Kiss My Hocks trained by John Stinebaugh, was a trial winner at Remington and returned to run in the Oklahoma Juvenile Stakes for a fifth-place finish. She appears in Race 6 with Gilberto Linares in the saddle.

Only the five fastest qualifiers from Friday’s trials will advance to the Sam Houston Futurity-G2 final on June 14, with five additional qualifiers to be determined from Saturday’s trials. San Vandido and Texas Pharaoh enter with race records and experience that make them strong candidates to move on to the finals.

All Sam Houston Race Park races can be seen at Q-Racing Video.com.

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