The Texas tradition of festival racing continues this weekend, but the focus shifts to the turf as top grass horses descend on Lone Star Park for the fourth annual Summer Turf Festival June 29.
The Festival features four turf races, headlined by the $250,000 Texas Turf Classic, a 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-olds and older horses.
There are turf events for everyone: sprinters will compete in the $125,000 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint at five furlongs; fillies and mares will sprint in the $125,000 Chicken Fried Stakes or tackle 1 1/16 miles in the $125,000 Wasted Tears Stakes.
The card features full fields with graded-stakes winners, leading trainers and defending local champions, promising to make the Summer Turf Festival one of the most exciting days of the 2024 Lone Star meet.
$250,000 Texas Turf Classic
Steve Asmussen, the all-time leading trainer by wins in North America, sends out the stakes-winning Presidential in the showcase $250,000 Texas Turf Classic. The 5-year-old horse has over a half-million in career earnings and competed in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) at Lone Star last month.
Asmussen, who began his training career at his family’s farm in Texas, is also the leading trainer of the current Lone Star meet by both wins and earnings. He is not the only member of the family on the Lone Star leaderboard: his son, Erik Asmussen, is the second-leading rider by wins at the current meet, a meteoric rise for the young jockey who notched his first career win six months ago at Sam Houston Race Park.
The father-son duo will team up with Presidential as well as Royal Flower in the Chicken Fried Stakes and Stayed in for Half in the Grand Prairie Turf Sprint.
Komorebino Omoide is a lightly raced 4-year-old making his stakes debut in the Texas Turf, but he won his last two starts by a combined 20 lengths and has shown versatility running as a closer as well as winning gate to wire. The colt is a homebred for Perry Martin; Martin, in partnership with Steve Coburn, also bred and owned his sire 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, who captivated fans with his modest background before becoming one of the all-time leading Thoroughbreds by earnings.
Lindey Wade rode the colt to victory at Louisiana Downs earlier this year and will return to ride for Robertino Diodoro.
Komorebino Omoide at Louisiana Downs
Trainer Karl Broberg and jockey Chris Landeros will be a threat from the outside with Ocelot . The 6-year-old Big Blue Kitten gelding was second in the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3T) at Sam Houston in January, his only loss in four starts in 2024.
$125,000 Wasted Tears Stakes
Grade 2 winner Hoosier Philly ships into Texas to take on a field of nine other fillies and mares in the $125,000 Wasted Tears Stakes.
The talented filly has career earnings of $858,910, including winning Churchill Downs‘ Golden Rod (G2) as a 2-year-old, and has faced some of the toughest horses in her division. As a 3-year-old, she finished second in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) at Pimlico Race Course and competed in the Cotillion Stakes (G1) before facing older fillies and mares in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). Marcelino Pedroza, Jr. has the riding call for trainer Tom Amoss on the 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief .
Hoosier Philly at Oaklawn Park
Hoosier Philly will have to face the defending champion of the Wasted Tears, Glenall .
Glenall stepped up in class in 2024 to compete in the Royal Heroine Stakes (G3T) and Wilshire Stakes (G3T), both at Santa Anita Park. In her most recent start, she ran fourth in the Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star, bringing her career earnings to the $250,000 mark. David Cabrera returns to ride the Shawn Davis trainee on Saturday.
Trainer Mike Maker and jockey Umberto Rispoli join forces with Stir Crazy , a 6-year-old mare making her stakes debut. She has career earnings of $344,804 and enters the race with a two-race win streak from Churchill Downs.
The stakes honors the talented mare Wasted Tears, a multiple graded-stakes winner who campaigned at Lone Star and won the Ouija Board Distaff in 2011. She won five additional graded stakes at Gulfstream Park, Keeneland, and Del Mar, and finished her racing career just shy of becoming a millionaire, with 12 wins and $941,463 in 22 starts. Wasted Tears was bred, owned and trained by Texas native Bart Evans.
$125,000 Chicken Fried Stakes
Multiple stakes-winner Ova Charged seeks to extend her current win streak to seven in the $125,000 Chicken Fried Stakes. The daughter of Star Guitar has won her last six races, all stakes, including the $400,000 Unbridled Sidney Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard.
Ova Charged at Churchill Downs
This will be the first appearance at Lone Star for the 6-year-old Louisiana-bred mare, whose earnings total $849,200 from 17 starts. Ova Charged will be ridden by Jose Guerrero for trainer Shane Wilson.
This year’s edition of the race could spell redemption for Tiz Magic , who has competed in the Chicken Fried Stakes each of the last two years and was second in 2023. Iram Diego was in the irons for the previous races and will return on Saturday for trainer Karen Jacks. The 6-year-old Dialed In mare has nine wins and $307,423 in earnings in 31 career efforts.
Texas racing is represented with Uptownblingithome , a Texas homebred for Jon Henningsgard and Marcus Hutka.
Uptownblingithome is undefeated in two starts in 2024 at Lone Star and Sam Houston. The 7-year-old daughter of Too Much Bling has over $200,000 in earnings and is multiple stakes placed, including a second-place finish in the 2021 Chicken Fried Stakes.
$125,000 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint Stakes
In 2023, Asmussen trainee Cogburn won the Chamberlain Bridge Stakes and the Grand Prairie Turf Stakes before shipping to Saratoga to take down the Troy Stakes (G3T); in 2024, Cogburn made headlines when he won the Jaipur Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course on the Belmont Stakes (G1) undercard and shattered the track record.
Could this year’s edition launch another turf sprint star? Like Cogburn last year, Agent Peter Graves won the Chamberlain Bridge Stakes to prep for Saturday’s sprint. The 6-year-old gelding is stakes placed at Gulfstream and Canterbury Park and has earned $184,133 in 20 starts. C.J. McMahon gets the riding call for trainer Scott Young.
Agent Peter Graves will face the recent winner of the Speightstown Sprint, Minnesota Ready , who was second in the Commonwealth Stakes (G2) at Keeneland and competed in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) before making the trip to Lone Star.
Minnesota Ready is a 5-year-old gelding with $484,112 in earnings. Marcelino Pedroza, Jr. has the riding call for trainer Tom Amoss.
Minnesota Ready at Fair Grounds
Lone Star Park Summer Turf Festival Stakes Post Times:
Race 4: $125,000 Chicken Fried Stakes, 2:59 PM CT
Race 6: $125,000 Wasted Tears Stakes, 3:55 PM CT
Race 8: $250,000 Texas Turf Classic, 4:51 PM CT
Race 10: $125,000 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint Stakes. 5:47 PM CT
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
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