(Saturday, November 22, 2003) - Four-year-old gelding Get Solid collected his second graded stakes win of the year with a powerful 1 ½-length victory over 8-5 favorite Run And Pray in Saturday’s Grade 3, $20,000 Lone Star Park Distance Championship in front of 4,544 at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. King Rick Rack was another nose back in third.

Owned and bred by Fred Yamaguchi of San Antonio, Texas and trained by Heath Taylor, Get Solid ran 870 yards on a “fast” main track in :45.37. Gilbert Ortiz, tacking 124 pounds, rode the winner en route to his 12th career Lone Star Park stakes win.

Get Solid, who dueled between horses early on, paid $5.60 to win as the 9-5 second wagering choice. He edged clear in the stretch.

“He really left [the starting gate] sharp today,” said Ortiz, who rode Drip Dry Dash to victory in the 2000 Lone Star Park Distance Championship. “He’s a horse that’ll break with them and then he kind of takes himself back.”

The Lone Star Park Distance Championship was Get Solid’s third win in six starts this year. The gray Texas-bred also captured the Grade 3, $43,000 Governor’s Cup Marathon at Sam Houston in August and the $15,000 San Marcos Handicap at Retama Park in June.

Prior to Saturday’s race, he finished second to Available Credit in the Grade 3, $37,800 Pat Hyland Memorial Handicap at Los Alamitos on Oct. 10. Get Solid arrived in Grand Prairie approximately 2 ½ weeks ago, and had been training well, according to both trainer and jockey.

“The horse has trained super all year and every time we’ve led him over here he’s been very solid and a pleasure to be around,” Taylor said. “He’s a very, very nice 870-horse and I’m obviously thrilled with how he ran.”

Overall, it was Get Solid’s eighth win in 18 starts. The $12,200 winner’s share of the purse padded his career earnings to $92,243.

Last fall, Get Solid, by Barrett’s Bullet out of the Calyx mare Getting Solid, won twice at Lone Star Park, including a convincing 2 ¾-length triumph in the $15,000 Grand Prairie Classic.

Cat B Quick, The Rolls Overture and BL Reo completed the order of finish. Zachs Hero and Gray Invasion were scratched.