Kaleem Shah’s Bellamore finally broke through at the graded stakes level with a gutsy performance in the 1 1/16-mile $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 27.
In her first start with Steve Asmussen, the trainer accomplished what none of Bellamore’s previous three conditioners could: win a graded stakes. She had been 0-for-9 with five placings in graded stakes. It was Asmussen’s third straight win in the Ladies Classic and fifth in the last six editions.
Breaking last in the field of seven, Bellamore made steady progress on the outside through splits of :24.05, :48.92, and 1:13.88. Jockey Stewart Elliott was able to call on her around the far turn and move past favored Hidden Connection who was dropping back.
With millionaire Free Like a Girl to catch, Elliott needed every inch of the stretch as he urged Bellamore past to win by a neck in 1:46.24, returning $7 to win.
“Right from the get-go in the race, she made me feel pretty good about things,” Elliott said after winning his second consecutive Houston Ladies Classic. “That filly (Free Like a Girl) dug in but I think my filly just wanted it, too.”
Bellamore, a 6-year-old daughter of Empire Maker , was bred by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and picked out by Shah’s son Arman at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in April 2020 for $350,000. She has now earned $644,992.
“Every horse he has picked out so far has been a graded stakes winner,” Shah said of his son.
Video: Houston Ladies Classic S. (G3)
Dynadrive Gives Maker Record Eighth Connally Win
From 2012-19, trainer Mike Maker controlled the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3T), winning the race seven times over eight years. 2020-23 then brought a change in results with other trainers finding success in the 1 1/2-mile turf race.
Saturday at Sam Houston, Maker resumed his place as the Connally’s king of the hill, taking the $200,000 contest with Three Diamonds Farm’s Dynadrive .
With jockey Reylu Gutierrez in town for the ride, Dynadrive tracked the pace of front-running Ocelot , rating several lengths behind that loose-on-the-lead front-runner, before Dynadrive asserted his superiority in the stretch. He pulled clear at the finish by 3 3/4 lengths over Ocelot, who held second for trainer Karl Broberg and his End Zone Athletics ownership. The winner paid $13.80 to his mutuel backers.
“I didn’t want to press him; I wanted to follow him,” Gutierrez said of Ocelot.
Dynadrive wins the John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes
Another Maker trainee, Red Run , finished third. Maker’s third and final starter, Catch That Party , ran sixth after a tardy start.
Gutierrez praised the condition of the Sam Houston turf course, which was listed as yielding after recent rains, but Gutierrez felt that it was firm.
The course produced slow times. His mount was timed in 2:34 for the distance following splits of :51.70, 1:18.32, 1:44.18, and 2:09.82 set by Ocelot.
Facts and Figures
- Three Diamonds Farm and Maker teamed to win a fourth Connally together after capturing three in a row with millionaire Bigger Picture from 2017-19.
- Dynadrive, a 7-year-old son of Temple City bred by Spendthrift Farm out of the Rockport Harbor mare Harbingerofthings , scored the second stakes win of his 33-race career, having won the 2022 Lure Stakes at Saratoga Race Course for different connections. Three Diamonds Farm and Maker claimed him for $62,500 last summer at Saratoga.
Video: John B. Connally Turf Cup S. (G3T)
