-photo by Coady Photography

Houston, Texas (August 21, 2004) - Brown Special continued his winning ways, remaining undefeated this season at Sam Houston Race Park and winning the first stakes of his career, the $14,250 Harrisburg Handicap.

The 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding is owned by John Richard Wall of Longview, Texas and trained by Sam Houston Race Park leading conditioner, Janet Van Bebber. Tonight's victory was his sixth in a row and fourth this meeting at Sam Houston Race Park. John Hamilton was in the irons and had a great deal of confidence that Brown Special could handle the jump in class to stakes company. He crossed the wire of the 550-yard contest in a final time of :27.504, with the fast-closing Alabama Schoolboy running second and Texi Gogo Girl finishing third.

"I knew he was going to give us 100%; he always does," said Hamilton. "We were a little hesitant about stepping him up, but we didn't have anywhere else to go. He had the talent; all I had to do is hold on."

"This horse has been such a pleasure to train," commented Van Bebber. "He's done everything we've asked of him and more, so he deserved the opportunity and he didn't disappoint us. And second to that is Richie (owner Richard Wall), who has allowed me to place the horse where I want and to run him as often or infrequently as I saw fit. That has really helped increased the horse's success."

"This is the only Quarter Horse that I have ever owned," said Wall. "It's been a great experience."

Running second in the Harrisburg Handicap for the second year in a row was Alabama Schoolboy owned by Carl J. Chaisson and trained by Carl Crawford.

"That 4 horse got away from us at the start," said rider, Patrick Watson. "My horse was gaining the whole way once we got rolling, but the winner just had too much of a getaway."

"I just got him from the farm earlier this year," said Crawford. "He was bred to a few mares and ran a big race at Delta. I wanted to win, but we just ran out of room. There may be a race at Evangeline for him, but we are planning to bring him back in November to compete in the Generation Stakes on November 5."

Texi Gogo Girl, a 4-year-old filly making her first start since November 25, outran her odds of 28-1 and finished third.

"Well, she didn't do too good from out of the gate," said jockey Jose Vega. "But as soon as she started from there - about 100 yards - she started running and she was coming real fast from the back. She was coming hard to the wire."

Sent off as the second betting choice, Brown Special returned $9.00, $$5.40 and $4.80 across the board. The 4-5 exacta returned $21.80 and the 4-5-2 trifecta paid $736.80. The remainder of the field included Miss Ashante, Don't Blink Girls, Cat B Quick, Unforgetable Memory and Jims Mark. Jw Spiderman was an early scratch.

With his victory tonight, Brown Special joined two other American Quarter Horses with perfect four-for-four records throughout the 2004 Sam Houston Race Park live meet. Thunder O Toole and Sunsets Magic are each undefeated to date with four victories each.