Houston, Texas (November 27, 2004) - A field of seven runners took to the John Connally Turf Course for tonight's feature, the $40,000 Buffalo Bayou Stakes. Sea Dub, a 5-year-old gelding, ridden by Luis Quinonez, took command at the quarter-pole and surged and to the wire of the 1 1/16 mile stakes in a time of 1:46.57.

Owned and bred by Doyle Williams, of Tulsa, Oklahoma and trained by Joe Petalino, Sea Dub won the fifth turf race of his career and his first victory at Sam Houston Race Park. He picked up a check for $24,000 tonight and increased his lifetime earnings to $228,213.

"He ran a nice race," said Quinonez. "Joe told me to lay off a little bit. The pace was real slow and the track was soft, but I just got him comfortable. I sat back and the rail opened up and he came through and ran pretty well in the end. I've ridden him at Remington Park and Hot Springs, but never got to win on him. I'm glad we could do it here."

"This is a good turf course," said Petalino. "We were going to run him at Remington but the race came off the turf. He ran well tonight and I think he will make his next start in the Colonel Bradley at Fair Grounds."

The longest shot in the field, Payasito, went to the lead and mounted a solid effort under Filemon Rodriguez. He was in front by two lengths at the top of the stretch until Sea Dub made his late bid.

"He jumped out of the gate and went on his own," said Rodriguez. "He was nice and relaxed and kept on running for me in the stretch. The turf course was soft, but he was handling it well and ran a good race."

Run to the Border, a 5-year-old son of El Prado, closed well under Terry Stanton for the show spot.

"He tried really hard," commented Stanton. "The grass is really soft right now. He's a big, strong horse and he tries so hard. I was bunched up early and he was tugging on me really hard. Paul (trainer Paul Murphy) told me when I get down the backside to make sure I find me a hole. So I was following the eight-horse (Virginia Pride) and when he moved, I moved. I had a perfect trip; we just came in third best."

Sea Dub, sent off at 3-1, paid $8.20 for the win. The 6-5 exacta returned $132 and the 6-5-4 trifecta paid $460.40. Crowned King, Late Expectations, winner of last weekend's Richard King Handicap, Virginia Pride and Campinout completed the order of finish. A R Crackers and Popped Corn were scratched.