Tejano Twist Starts 2025 On High Note in King Cotton

Tejano Twist (6g Practical Joke x Haley’s Lolipop, by Cuvee) avenged his second in last year’s King Cotton Stakes on Saturday with a half-length victory in this year’s edition.

Making his first start of the year in the six furlong dirt race, Tejano Twist wasn’t in a hurry to show his best and dropped well off the field in his trademark last place position. Going around the turn, he still had over 10 lengths to make up if he had any hope of catching the leaders, but the gelding had shown he could do it in the past and was set to do it again.

Flavien Prat didn’t panic, letting Tejano Twist do what he needed to and early in the stretch run he had collared the leaders. Happy Is a Choice battled the winner throughout the stretch, but wasn’t up for the task of getting the advantage with Tejano Twist winning by half a length.

Trained by Chris Hartman for JD Thoroughbreds and Joey Keith Davis, Tejano Twist has won 10 of his 38 starts with 16 other top three finishes for $1,559,717 in earnings

The Tom Durant-bred is one of two stakes winners out of the Grade III placed Haley’s Lolipop, who is one of four stakes performers out of Two Foxie. That mare’s Grade III winning daughter Maddalena produced four stakes performers of her own, including Grade II winner Bern Identity.

This is the third stakes winner of the year for Practical Joke, who is also the sire of a graded stakes winner, seven stakes performers, and two graded stakes performers, leading all three of those categories.