Page 44 - 27 April 2012

Sam houston Futurity-G2
SASSMAStER
by Stacy Pigott
trainer Eusevio Huitron knows a thing or two about developing top-notch Quarter Horses, counting among his former pupils Champion Tempting Dash. On April 14 at Sam Houston Race Park, Huitron introduced another rising star when Sassmaster won the $487,700 Sam Houston Futurity-G2.
A gelded son of TR Dasher, Sassmaster unofficially started his career at Las Palmas Race Park, where he won the Royal Shake Em Futurity on Feb. 18. He officially started his career in the Sam Houston Futurity trials on March 31. He led early and ran a good race to finish second that day, behind fellow qualifier RC Had To Be My Day. His time of :16.77 was the fourth-fastest of the night.
For the finals two weeks later, Huitron
and owner Macedonio Lozano, of McAllen, Texas, opted to fly in Los Alamitos-based rider Rodrigo Aceves to ride Sassmaster. The deci- sion worked out well, as Aceves and Sassmaster made a winning team in the finals.
Breaking from post position seven, Sassmaster bobbled at the start but recovered to be among the early leaders for the first half of the 330-yard race. In a strong finish, the gelding overpowered Thequeenhasgonenuts
and Hiclass Buck to win the Sam Houston Futurity by a neck in :16.867 for a speed index of 94. The time was even more impressive con- sidering it was clocked into a nasty 32 mile-per-hour head- wind as storms rolled across south Texas that evening.
“(Sassmaster) slipped as he broke out of the gate,” said Aceves, who was making just his second trip to Sam Houston. “But once he got going, he did it easily.”
“We felt that this horse has talent,” said Mario Lozano, the owner’s son. “He is paid into the All American Futurity, and we wanted Rodrigo to ride him.”
Sent off at odds of 5-1, Sassmaster was
the third wagering choice behind favored and fastest qualifier Spartocus, who finished sixth, and RC Had To Be My Day, who deadheated for eighth.
“He got wiped out at the break,” said Spartocus’ trainer Bobby Martinez, who will head to Delta Downs and the
Firecracker Futurity with the son of Shazoom.
Sassmaster’s connections, meanwhile, still have their sights set on the All American Futurity-G1 at Ruidoso Downs later this fall. With
a Grade 2 win to his credit, Sassmaster has now earned $195,080 to make him the leading money earner for his dam, the Separatist mare Catch You Now.
Sassmaster was bred by Edward C. Allred in
California, but Catch Me Now was sold with Sassmaster in utero to Danny Spiess, who foaled the colt in Texas. Spiess later sold the mare to a ranch in Mexico and consigned Sassmaster to the 2011 Heritage Place Winter Mixed Sale, where he was repurchased for $8,500. Lozano bought the colt privately.
Sassmaster is a half-brother to two-time Grade 3 futurity finalist First Down Now. Their dam, Catch You Now, is a winning sister to Grade 3 stakes-placed runners Revitalist and The Stevedore, as well as to the dam of
Sam Houston Race Park $487,700 • 330 yards :16.867 • si 94
First Down Dash
TR Dasher
Tylers Cutie
SASSMASTER, ’10-g.
Separatist
Catch You Now
Brace It
42 SPEEDHORSE, April 27, 2012
Sassmaster's connections gather in the winner's circle following the Sam Houston Futurity win.
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Jack Coady: Coady Photography