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Magnum is too much for Lone Star opponents Herrick Racing's MAGNUM (Arg) (El Compinche) closed four wide on the far turn to reach the lead at the top of the stretch and easily proved best in Monday's $400,000 Lone Star Park H. (G3). Runner-up in both the Santa Anita H. (G1) and Oaklawn H. (G2) this season and Group 1-placed in his native Argentina, the five-year-old traveled to Texas to earn his first career stakes victory and covered 1 1/16 miles over the muddy track in 1:42 4/5. Patrick Valenzuela guided the Darrell Vienna trainee. Sent off the 6-5 favorite, Magnum rallied from just off the pace to defeat Texcess (In Excess [Ire]) by 1 1/4 lengths and paid $4.40, $2.80 and $2.80. Texcess, who contested the opening quarter in :23 and led the way through the next splits in :46 1/5 and 1:10, finished a clear second at 6-1 and gave back $5 and $4 while capping the $27.40 exacta. Real Dandy (Yankee Victor) rallied from far back at 32-1 to grab third, paying $8.60 and boosting the $233.80 trifecta. The 1-3-2-6 superfecta, with 7-1 Cosmonaut (Lemon Drop Kid) in fourth, totaled $2,214.60. Nakayama Kun (Known Fact), Dominguin (Per) (Domingo), Stockholder (Bertrando), Preachinatthebar (Silver Charm), Watchem Smokey (Alphabet Soup) and Wishingitwas (Sandpit [Brz]) rounded out the order of finish. Bred by La Quebrada, Magnum won two of eight starts in South America and made his U.S. bow last summer at Del Mar. He's really come on this year for Vienna, improving his 2006 record to 4-2-2-0, and has now earned $618,414 from an overall 17-5-3-2 mark. Out of the unraced Merrymaker (Arg) (Rainbow Corner [GB]), the dark bay horse is a full brother to multiple Group 1 Argentinian winner Medal of Honor. This is the same female family as Group 1 winners Merry Sweet (Gold Trojan), Manpower (Southern Halo) and Masterpiece (Arg) (Southern Halo).
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