PLAYING THE PONIES
Sam Houston Race Park selections for Saturday, March 21
Mar 21, 2020, 6:06 am
Courtesy photo
Here are my selections for Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park. These are not meant to be in exact order, but merely the four horses I think have the best chance to win. For beginners, I suggest exacta boxes with three horses, using two of mine and one of your own. And you can always pick up a copy of Acing Racing 2016 to learn everything you need to know. (These are the picks and format that are available on the free tip sheet at SHRP).
FIRST
4-6-1-3
BIG EM C is a win machine and should be tough
SECOND
6-8-7-3
PADDLE WHEEL should get a nice trip behind the dueling front-runners
THIRD
4-6-1-3
LETHAL MOVE is consistent and fits well in this spot
FOURTH
6-1-2-3
GOLD PILOT is in sharp form and beat many of these in last
FIFTH
1-4-7-6
GEE SHE SPARKLES needed last and should take a step forward
SIXTH
5-2-4-6
REDATORY thrives in these Texas bred stakes races
SEVENTH
10-4-5-9
SUGAR FOOTIN BLING has some sharp efforts coming into this
EIGHTH
7-8-4-3
TEXAS BELLE romped in last; fits well here
NINTH
8-7-5-1
HES OUR FASTEST has been knocking heads with some tough runners
TENTH
11-7-9-5
XINGFU should be better with return to the turf course
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?