Page 155 - June 2021

Fear The Dragon’s winning connections include owner Jose J. Espinoza, trainer Adrian Huitron and jockey Rodrigo Vallejo.
With the lucrative victory, the California- bred gelding has now won five of his 11 career starts, with two of them in 2021.
It was the first stakes win for Fear The Dragon, who won his trial to the Sam Houston Derby-G3 in wire-to-wire fashion by 1-length to top the qualifying ladder.
Fear The Dragon broke his maiden in his second out of 2020, winning at Fair Meadows in Oklahoma.
He next won his trial to the Speedhorse Futurity-G3 in a wire-to-wire performance, and then scored a second-place finish in the $137,000 finals at two last year.
The gelding qualified to the Dash For Cash Futurity-G2, and finished fifth after being bumped in the $364,095 finals. The race chart indicates much of the field in this race endured some sort of bumping.
His next event was in the trials to the Evangeline Downs Futurity. He won his heat by 3/4-lengths and then came back to finish fifth in the $317,265 Grade 3 finals. It was another race in which a lot of bumping went on for much of the field. That race ended Fear The Dragon’s freshman campaign of 2020.
In 2021, he started the season with a second place finish in the Oklahoma Derby trials at Remington Park, but did not qualify to the finals.
It was then that he moved on to Sam Houston Race Park for the Sam Houston
Derby trials on April 24, winning, qualifying, and coming back to win the finals to become a first time stakes winner in the process.
The $133,160 winner’s share of the Sam Houston Derby-G3 purse increased Fear The Dragon’s bankroll to $223,824 for owner Jose Espinoza and trainer Adrian Huitron.
“I want to thank everyone for their hard work,” stated Huitron, who was celebrating his birthday.
“He’s a very special horse,” the trainer continued. “It’s been a special month with qualifying for the Derby and Futurity.”
Huitron qualified four horses to the Sam Houston Futurity-G1 during the two nights of trials, including fastest qualifier Apollitical Crystal. The finals will be held May 28.
“We bought this horse at the Heritage Place Sale,” stated owner Espinosa in regards to Fear The Dragon.
“He ran in a couple of futurities and we wanted to bring him back to Texas,” he said “This was a really good birthday for Adrian.”
Bred by Rafter W Stables, Fear The Dragon is produced from the Dean Miracle mare Hidden Dragon. She earned a 104 speed index and $165,347 in her racing career, including a win in the Grade 1 New Mexican Spring Futurity at Sunland Park.
Hidden Dragon is the dam of three stakes winners. Beside Fear The Dragon, she has also
produced Heza Wild Dragon ($299,798) and Zulu Dragon ($180,054).
As for what’s next for Fear The Dragon, he is paid into the Texas Classic Derby-G1 at Lone Star Park later this year.
Runner-up Jess A Dashin Angela (Dash Master Jess-Mi Angela) proved game in defeat and just missed under jockey Luis Vivanco. The filly is a homebred for Cesar Rosales and she
is trained by Rolando Almanza. Jess A Dashin Angela won her Sam Houston Derby trial as the sixth fastest qualifier, which marked her second victory. She previously won a maiden race by a length last year at Lone Star Park.
Gianniy (One Famous Gianni- Chalinashake), with jockey Jorge Garcia aboard, rallied late and finished well in third place for owner Manuel Reyes and trainer Juan Diaz Jr. Gianniy broke her maiden just prior to the Sam Houston Derby trials, win- ning a trial to the Evangeline Downs Futurity lat year but he did not qualify.
Tall Timbers (Corona Cartel-Tiny Dash of Cash) finished in fourth place, and Blame The Fed (Favorite Cartel-Eagle On The Fly), Special Mariposa (The Louisiana Cartel- Pampered Silk), FM Steel Rock (Tempting Dash-Kritters Effort), Jesslightninglegs (Dash Master Jess-Lovely Legs) and OJD Chavela J (Valiant Hero-One Prompt JJ) completed the order of finish.
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