Trainer Kenny McPeek will be looking to win the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic for the first time Saturday, when he starts Corningstone and Dear Lady, but back in 2002 he saddled one of the best female horses to ever run at the now 30-year-old Sam Houston Race Park. Take Charge Lady came to town for the inaugural Great State Challenge and won the $275,000 Distaff. The multiple Grade 1 winner rolled by more than three lengths nine days after running second in the Falls City at Churchill Downs. “That was a really good mare,” said McPeek, who entered the race week 10 victories from 2,000 training wins in North America. “She ran back quick over there and just won easily.” The Houston Ladies Classic was inaugurated in 2013, and it has brought more top female runners to Sam Houston, including past winners Forever Unbridled, Letruska, and Midnight Bisou. Corningstone and Dear Lady will be looking to pull mild upsets when they face Hidden Connection, a Grade 3 winner and the runner-up in last year’s Houston Ladies Classic; Bellamore, who last year twice ran third to Idiomatic; and Free Like a Girl, a millionaire seeking stakes win No. 15. The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares anchors the Houston Racing Festival, which is a card featuring five stakes that includes the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup. First post is 1 p.m. Central, with wagering on the card limited to tracks in Texas and international sites due to an ongoing impasse between the Texas Racing Commission and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Corningstone, who is a three-time stakes winner, will start from the rail off a runner-up finish in the Joseph E. “Spanky” Broussard on Dec. 22 at Fair Grounds. “She’s been a filly that always runs hard every time,” McPeek said. “She was second best last time to Hidden Connection. She’s a filly that we’ll probably put on the shelf after this race, point for some of those Indiana-bred races next spring and summer.” Dear Lady will start from post 3 off back-to-back allowance wins, one at Churchill Downs and the other at Oaklawn. “She’s in good form, the best form she’s ever been in,” McPeek said. “She’s run through some allowance conditions, and it’s hard to find allowance races for her. She’s a filly we’re trying to see if she’s stakes caliber.” David Cohen has the mount on Dear Lady, who races for Barry Fowler and Magdalena Racing. Fernando Jara will ride Corningstone for Five Fillies Stable and Balios Racing Stable. Dear Lady earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 83 for her win over 1 1/16 miles last out at Oaklawn. It’s the second-best last-race number in the Houston Ladies Classic behind the 89 put up by Hidden Connection. “Her last race was really strong,” McPeek said. “She’s got speed and can stalk.” Corningstone could be prominent from the start, as could Perfect Wish, who wired the field last out in the She’s All In Stakes at Remington Park. Free Like a Girl will be stretching back out to two turns . The last time she raced at the configuration she wired the field in the Louisiana Champions Day Distaff at Fair Grounds. Hidden Connection, who breaks from the widest post in gate 7, could get an ideal tracking trip, and Bellamore can take advantage if the pace is too quick. Reylu Gutierrez rides Hidden Connection for trainer Bret Calhoun, and Stewart Elliott will be aboard Bellamore for trainer Steve Asmussen, who has won a record four runnings of the Houston Ladies Classic. Connally Cup Mike Maker’s initials could just as well stand for Marathon Man. The trainer has won half of the runnings of the Connally Cup since the turf fixture was moved to 1 1/2 miles in 2016 and on Saturday will seek his eighth overall win in the race. He has entered Catch That Party, Street Ready, Dynadrive, and Red Run in the field of 12. Red Run and Catch That Party are cross-entered in the William L. McKnight on Saturday at Gulfstream, with Catch That Party on the also-eligible list. Maker said those horses were to run in the Connally Cup. Palazzi, a past winner of the Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile at Sam Houston, also is entered in both races Saturday, but trainer Mark Casse on Tuesday said Palazzi would run at Sam Houston. Red Run, another past winner of the Bork Texas Turf Mile, enters the Connally off a ninth-place finish in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream. “I thought Red Run’s race was better than it looks,” Maker said. “He was extremely wide turning for home, so there was a considerable amount of ground loss.” Fernando Jara has the mount from post 12. Dynadrive is a stakes winner coming off an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Canadian International run on yielding ground at Woodbine. “They got a bunch of rain, the turf course was soft, and he didn’t care for it,” Maker said Reylu Gutierrez has the mount from post 8. “We want to try to get him closer to the pace,” Maker said. Catch That Party will break from the rail off a fourth-place finish in the H. Allen Jerkens Handicap at two miles on turf Dec. 24 at Gulfstream. He was beaten a length. “I thought he was unlucky to lose last time,” Maker said. “Just a slow pace.” Before the Jerkens, Catch That Party won a first-level allowance over 1 3/8 miles on turf at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet. David Cohen has the mount Saturday. Street Ready is a Grade 2-placed runner coming off a 10th-place finish in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial on Dec. 23 at Fair Grounds. It was his first start in three months. “With the turf canceled at Churchill, we had a tough time placing him,” Maker said. Jose Alvarez has the mount from post 6. The field for the Connally also includes Sunlit Song, the recently crowned Texas-bred of the year who is looking for his ninth stakes win over his home course at Sam Houston. ◗ Committee of One makes his first start since the Breeders’ Cup in the $100,000 Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile for 3-year-olds. He was seventh by 2 1/2 lengths in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint last out, following a win in the Indian Summer at Keeneland. ◗ Too Much Kiki seeks to improve her record to 4 for 5 when she chases after her second stakes win at the meet in the $75,000 Bara Lass. ◗ My Buddy Mel is back at one turn for the $75,000 Groovy. The last time he raced at the configuration he was second in the $75,000 Clever Trevor at Remington. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.