Mojo Race Recap: Butte Returns to Racing at Sam Houston Park

March 11, 2015 

Mojo's three-year-old Colt, Cool Hand Butte (by Sky Mesa out of Sheza Nasty Lady), returned to racing in a one mile maiden special race at Sam Houston Park (SHP) on Monday, March 9.  Butte had been off for six months recuperating from a racing injury, and this was his fourth lifetime start of his racing career.

“It’s good to have Butte back in action,” said Fred Taylor, Mojo’s CEM.  “Thankfully, he recovered nicely from the injury he suffered from a fluke incident at the end of last summer.  He’s sound, he feels good about himself, and he’s been training well since January.  So, when the race at SHP came up in the condition book, it was an opportunity for us to test Butte’s readiness.”    

Starting from Post Position #7, Cool Hand Butte was dropped to the back of the pack coming out of the gate on a sloppy track.  Full of energy, Butte was a little rank going around the Clubhouse turn as he was trying to get up with the leaders.  Going down the backstretch, Butte settled into a steady pace.  In the far turn, he made a little move as the pace quickened, and he was swung five wide at the top of the stretch.  Butte’s competitive nature is evident as he dug in; however, his aerobic conditioning hasn’t gotten back to top form (yet).  As such, he wasn’t able to move forward, and he finished 6^th.

"Physically, Butte is strong; but he got winded coming down the stretch,” explains Mojo’s Trainer JR Caldwell.  “I wanted to try to conserve his energy at the beginning of the race so he would have something left at the end; but, because the horse was fresh, he wanted to go and was fighting the rider out of the gate.  Butte’s eagerness to run is a good sign, and he just needs more training to get his mind back in stride and his lungs in shape for the closing kick." 

"This was like a practice race for Butte,” Fred reports.  “It just turned out, with all the rain, the track was a bog.  Also, Butte was running against horses that have raced 3 or 4 times already this year—naturally, they were in better shape.  And, we know that Butte favors running on the grass.  All that said, I'm confident JR will get Butte into top form (head to toe, inside and out) so he’s ready for turf racing this spring at Lone Star Park."

So, stay tuned for upcoming racing info about Cool Hand Butte, as well as more exciting news on our other Mojo Runners!

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Mojo Background

Mojo Thoroughbred Holdings, LLC (which conducts its horse racing operations as Mojo Racing Partners) is based in Fort Worth, TX and was formed in 2006.  Since then, Mojo has raced at Arlington Park, Churchill Downs, Indiana Downs, Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, Lone Star Park, Oaklawn Park, Remington Park, and Turfway Park.  Mojo’s on a mission to give people affordable and fun opportunities to participate in the exciting sport of Thoroughbred racing. 

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