(July 8, 2006) - Two-year-old gelding Be a Resident fought off several challengers and remained unbeaten in three starts with convincing 1 ¼-length victory over Holy Mission in the Staunch Avenger Division of the $125,000 Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. Also,the maiden Wrenice validated her runner-up effort in the TTA Sales Futurity with a powerful 6 ¼-length triumph in the Pan Zareta Division for 2-year-old fillies.

Both stakes events and four others helped comprise Lone Star Park's sixth annual Stars of Texas Day - a showcase of state-bred Thoroughbreds with stakes purses totaling $465,000. Also on the card:

· Dreamsandvisions won the $75,000 Assault Stakes for older Texas-breds.

· Shesabigcat wired older females in the $60,000 Allen Bogan Memorial Stakes.

· Rain On Monday survived a steward's inquiry and gave leading trainer Steve Asmussen a 1-2-3 finish in the $40,000 Harold V. Goodman Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds.

· Open Meadows collected her second stakes win of the meet with a front-running score in the $40,000 Valor Farm Stakes against 3-year-old fillies.

Be a Resident, who gave defending riding champ Cliff Berry his meet-best 88th trip to the winner's circle, ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03.92 - a stakes record for the 5-year-old race restricted to progeny of nominated Texas-based stallions. He paid $5.20, $3.60 and $2.80 as the 8-5 favorite.

It was Be a Resident's second straight stakes win for Dallas owners Wayne Saunders and Larry Hirsch. Previously, he won the $99,640 TTA Sales Futurity for colts and geldings on June 10. The $75,000 winner's share of purse jumped the Texas-bred son of Open Forum's earnings to $145,584.

"This horse has a tremendous heart and a lot of determination," said winning trainer Bret Calhoun. "He's a lot of fun to train and has a lot of talent and a lot of heart to go along with it. We really thought going into [the TTA Sales Futurity] we were up against (graded stakes winner) Datrick. After that race, this horse's confidence really got big and going into this race we were pretty confident. We thought it was a pretty tough race, but we had a lot of confidence going in."

Runner-up Holy Mission returned $8 and $5.20. Mary's Gray Boy was another 1 ½ lengths behind in third and paid $3.40.

Be a Resident's Staunch Avenger victory was Calhoun's second stakes win of the day. The 42-year-old Grand Prairie native also saddled Shesabigcat in the Bogan.

"It's been a lot of fun," said Calhoun, who now trails Asmussen 55 to 48 in the local trainer standings with nine racing dates left at the meeting. Asmussen is set to begin a six-month suspension for a Louisiana medication violation on Monday.

In the Pan Zareta division, the speedy Wrenice led from gate to wire and ran 5 ½ furlongs under jockey Bobby Walker Jr. in 1:04.13 - another stakes record. This was her first career win in four starts for owner/breeder Stewart Hamblem and trainer Randy Mayfield.

Previously, she finished second to Asmussen's highly regarded Miss Mary Pat as a 37-1 outsider. On Saturday, she paid $8.20, $5.20 and $3.60. Stage Stop rallied for second and returned $13.20 and $7. Lady Be Tru, another half-length back in third, paid $3.20. Party of One, the 2-1 favorite, faded to ninth.

"[Wrenice] left away clean and I was out hustling for about 20 or 30 yards to make sure she was on her feet because there was a lot of speed in there with her," Walker said. "She got comfortably in front there for a minute and for about the first quarter I was contested but I wasn't having to use her. As fast as we were going they couldn't possibly keep that pace up. She just had to stay good enough and she set that pace and salvaged enough energy to go ahead and finish that up."

The $75,000 purse boosted Wrenice's earnings to $103,346.

Dreamsandvisions Dominates $75,000 Assault Stakes

Dreamsandvisions launched a late rally along the inside rail and cruised past pacesetter Senor Amigo to win Saturday's $75,000 Assault Stakes for older Texas-breds by 2 ¾ lengths.

Dreamsandvisions, with Luis Quinonez in the saddle and carrying 118 pounds, covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.77 and paid $6.20, $3.20 and $2.40 as the 2-1 second betting choice in the field of seven. Premiere Stakes winner Senor Amigo returned $5.60 and $4. Two-time defending champ Goosey Moose was another 1 ½ lengths back in third and paid $3. Groovy Chief, the 9-5 favorite, was forwardly placed early but faded on the far turn to finish last.

"You can't take his game away from him; he's a horse that comes from behind," Quinonez said. "I just got him to relax and when I asked him to run he was all there for me and came strong down the lane."

The win was the sixth in 16 lifetime starts for Dreamsandvisions and was worth $45,000, raising the career earnings for the gelded son of Kipling to $214,481 for Steven and Sandra Duke, the husband-wife owner and trainer who reside near Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana border in Bloomberg, Texas.

Dreamsandvisions has lived up to his biblical name for the Dukes, who bought him for just $2,500 as a 2-year-old. "It took a year to break him to ride, but we always believed he had the talent," said Steven Duke, a 52-year-old who, after working 30 years for Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in Texarkana, took out his training license as a hobby six years ago. "It's kind of grown into a real nice hobby."

Duke, who owns two horses and trains a total of six, had trouble getting Dreamsandvisions to the races early on. But an equipment change in his third career start made all the difference.

"He was in training for a year before he ever ran a race," Duke said. "Including Luis Quinonez, he's bucked off everyone that's ever ridden him. He really was a challenge, but he hasn't bucked off anybody in seven months. When we put the blinkers on, he quit bucking."

The Assault was Dreamsandvisions third career stakes triumph and first at Lone Star Park.

"He's a once in a lifetime horse," said Duke, who has rejected offers as high as $300,000 to sell the horse. "I've been so lucky to run into a once-in-a-lifetime horse so early in my life. I've turned down a lot of money for him and people think I'm nuts, but I'll never get another one like him. He's never had a sore day in his life, knock on wood."

Plans call for Dreamsandvisions to run in the $150,000 Evangeline Mile on Aug. 12, the $100,000 Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Retama Park on Oct. 14 and the Stars of Texas Stakes at Sam Houston in November. A trip to Kentucky is also a possibility, according to Duke.

DOWN THE STRETCH - Trainer Randy Mayfield on Wrenice: "We'd been fighting little blisters and a lung infection here and there, off and on. But every race she got better and better and today she put it all together."...Trainer Bret Calhoun on Allen Bogan Memorial winner Shesabigcat: "She just wasn't showing much sprinting so we decided to stretch her out and she's done very well since. She's a big gorgeous filly, covers a lot of ground and doesn't have any problems with two turns. She has a lot of speed and can carry it."...Valor Farm racing manager Ken Carson on Shesabigcat's dam Pleasuretohave: "We bred Alysheba 10 times and only got one filly - this filly's mother so it worked out well."...Jockey Justin Shepherd on Rain on Monday's stretch run in the Harold V. Goodman Memorial: "He was kind of ducking from the whip, a little bit green, but still good enough to win. There was plenty of speed in the race to set up for him and Steve [Asmussen] wanted him off the pace and relaxed. He hit another gear turning for home."...Jockey Casey Lambert on Valor Farm champ Open Meadows: "She broke fast and once she got clear of the gap, she really didn't make any mistakes. She relaxed well at the front and was just a little faster than everyone else."