Touchuponastar Takes a Third Crack at Steve Sexton Mile

After running second in the Steve Sexton Mile Stakes (G3) the past two years, Louisiana-bred millionaire Touchuponastar  aims to make the third time a charm in the $400,000 race at Lone Star Park May 26.

Six-year-old Touchuponastar, a 16-time winner in 22 starts, is in career-best form, dismantling state-bred stakes competition through the winter and spring and also defeating graded stakes winners Hall of Fame  and Sierra Leone  in the March 22 New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. 

A gelded son of Star Guitar  , Set-Hut's Touchuponastar followed up the New Orleans Classic with a four-length romp against Louisiana-breds in the May 3 EVD Classic Stakes.

Timothy Thornton returns aboard the Jeff Delhomme trainee, who breaks from post 9 in the field of 11. The Steve Sexton Mile begins in front of the grandstand with the horses making one circuit over the Lone Star main track.

Heroic Move , who edged Touchuponastar by a neck in the 2024 Steve Sexton Mile, and three-time stakes winner The Wine Steward  head the opposition.

Lone Star Park also hosts five other stakes Monday, with the secondary feature being the $300,000 Texas Derby at 1 1/16 miles on dirt. The Brad Cox-trained Instant Replay  is heavily favored in the 10-horse race after winning the April 19 Bathhouse Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

No out-of-state simulcasting or wagering is available domestically due to a continued regulatory impasse between the Texas Racing Commission and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.