(December 28, 2002)- Sam Houston Race Park finished off the 2002 racing year in style, hosting two divisions of the $125,000 Texas Stallion Stakes. The series is underwritten by the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) and was designed as an incentive for offspring of Texas-based stallions.

The two stakes produced exciting races with dramatically different outcomes. In the filly division, longshot Showmetothevilla broke her maiden with an impressive victory, while the heavily favored Call Me Lefty left his rivals in the dust in the colt and gelding division.

Showmetothevilla, owned by Chances Are Racing Stable of Dallas, Texas and trained by Cary Carter, was making just the second start of her career. The daughter of Pancho Villa made her debut on December 14 and ran second in a 5 ½-furlong sprint under rider Adrian Ramos. She received first Salix this evening and covered the one mile in a final time of 1:40.28.

"She’s just a runner," said Ramos, who celebrated his first stakes win of his career tonight. "I appreciate Cary asking me to ride her; she’s a very good filly."

"This is a first for us," admitted Carter. "We’re really excited. We may have misjudged this one a little bit, but she’s made us all very happy."

Post time favorite Lady Mallory tried a different tactic under regular rider Cathleen Garner. She usually comes off the pace with a big run, but tonight she stayed near the front, dueling with Final Attack in the early stages of the race. She had the lead at the top of the stretch, but the late closing run of both Hay Allison and Showmetothevilla relegated her to third.

"Her position on the racetrack hurt her more than anything," said trainer Tommie Morgan. "I'll look for an allowance race or another stake around two turns. We'll let her drop back like she likes to do and then make that one 3/8-mile run and see what happens. If she doesn't handle distance then, I'll drop her back to sprints."

Hay Allison, owned by Ro Parra and trained by Barry Germany, closed nicely in the stretch for second. She was just one of two fillies in the field of eight that had attempted two turns in previous races, and was ridden tonight by Roger Gomez.

"She lost a little momentum coming around the 2nd turn when the #1 horse passed by," said Gomez. "Coming from the 3/16 pole I had to start riding harder. She made a big kick in the in the end and I'm very happy with the way she ran."

Showmetothevilla, was sent off at odds of 15-1 and returned $33.40, $13.40 and $4.80 across the board. The 1-7 exacta returned $190.40 and the 1-7-5 trifecta paid $745.40. Final Attack, Zottex, She’s A Deputy, Forever Naevus and Tiffany Jennifer completed the field.

In the $125,000 colt division, eight colts and geldings were entered and Call Me Lefty got off to a running start and never relinquished his lead. The 2-year-old gelding owned and bred by the Christine S. Moore Family Limited Partnership of Fredericksburg, Texas, has now won three of his six lifetime starts, picking up his first stakes victory tonight. Ridden by John Jacinto, Call Me Lefty exploded from the gate and completed the mile distance in a time of 1:38.87. Trained by Tommie Morgan, Call Me Lefty received $75,000 for tonight’s win, increasing his career bankroll to $129,000.

"I like to ride fast horses; I love being in the front with no traffic," said Jacinto. "He started to play around a little, but at the 3/8 pole, I had to ask him to make a run, and he responded."

"He’s among the top 2-year-olds I’ve ever trained," said Morgan. "He likes to go around two turns and it seems the further he goes, the better he gets. He gives 110% every time he runs."

Lasttorun, ridden by Sam Houston Race Park leading rider, Terry Stanton, stayed close to the pace, but could not catch the winner.

"My horse ran good and ran all he could today," commented Stanton. "I think he will improve off of that, but that was a nice horse that out run him. John (Jacinto) had to get after his horse a little and I still had some horse left. When he got after his horse, he got away from me, but I made him run all he could."

Hasit, under rider Rita Helton, at odds of 50-1, closed to complete the trifecta. Trainer Charlie Davis knew that the son of Hadif would have some tough competition and was very pleased with his third place showing.

"He'd been training really well and I wasn't sure he could compete with this kind but he showed that he could," said Davis. "I'm really proud of him."

"I didn't want to go with those first two because I didn't think he would have enough left at the end," admitted Helton. "When the others started coming to him, he dug in, especially after that horse (Seneca Rock) got up even with him and he saw him; he just ran harder."

Call Me Lefty, the post time favorite, paid $3.60 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.40 to show. The 3-6 exacta returned $24.60 and the trifecta paid $572.20. The complete order of finish included Seneca Rock, Sovereign Time, Native Texan, Irish Rooster and Wellgetem.