Asmussen, Casse once again have the horses in Lecomte

NEW ORLEANS – Steve Asmussen and Mark Casse trained the winners of the last three Lecomte Stakes. Bettors will expect that streak to reach four on Saturday at Fair Grounds.

The Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte, part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby, features a showdown between Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Pappacap, trained by Casse, and the Asmussen-trained Epicenter, who took a notable step forward Dec. 26 winning the Gun Runner Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile Lecomte (which offers 17 Derby qualifying points, distributed 10-4-2-1 to the top four finishers) drew nine entrants but no more than eight will start since Blue Kentucky’s connections plan to scratch.

Post time for the Lecomte, the last of six stakes on a 14-race card is 6:20 p.m. Central, nearly 6 1/2 hours after a noon first post. The temperature will struggle to hit 50, but no rain is forecast and turf racing should go off as planned.

Though the Lecomte and the $150,000 Silverbulletday for fillies are the 3-year-old headliners, Saturday’s 3-year-old racing menu includes a first-level dirt-route allowance, a pair of two-turn dirt maidens, two maiden dirt sprints, and a maiden turf route.

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Race 13, the Louisiana Stakes, drew two of 2021’s top 3-year-olds, Midnight Bourbon and Mandaloun, respectively first and third in the 2021 Lecomte. Three other turf stakes also are on the card.

Asmussen had high expectations for Epicenter’s career debut in September, but after leading during the early and middle stages of a seven-furlong Churchill Downs maiden, Epicenter, by Not This Time, backed up and finished sixth. He improved considerably in his second start, winning a one-turn mile in November from a pace-pressing position, and came forward again making his two-turn debut in the Gun Runner, scoring emphatically with a peak 87 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He’s very strong, and every step is forward with him,” said Asmussen, who trains Epicenter for Winchell Thoroughbreds. “His maiden win was visually impressive, a good time and a good number, but everything went his way. In the Gun Runner, he had a little company, ran two turns the first time, and looked every bit as good while his number improved, which is ideal.”

Surfer Dude set the pace in the Gun Runner, fading to finish third. He is drawn on the rail Saturday and is the likely pacesetter.

“Looks like he likes that,” said trainer Dallas Stewart, who also sends out Louisiana-bred Unified Report, unbeaten in three starts, all statebred-restricted.

Epicenter figures to press or stalk from just off the leader’s flank as Joel Rosario, aboard for the maiden win, takes back the mount. If Trafalgar, drawn in post 4, breaks decently, he likely winds up inside and just behind Surfer Dude.

“He might get tucked in there, which is good, as long as you can get out,” trainer Al Stall said. “I’d like to see him behind some horses.”

Trafalgar, a reasonable alternative to the two favorites, finished an eventful second to the high-class colt Classic Causeway in his Saratoga sprint debut before closing into a strong pace to win a one-turn maiden mile at Churchill. Early in the Fair Grounds meet, he tracked a slow pace and won a first-level, two-turn dirt allowance race by a head over the solid colt Naval Aviator. The slim win margin resulted from Trafalgar losing focus, Stall believes, idling after making the lead in upper stretch. As soon as Naval Aviator drew alongside, Trafalgar immediately re-broke.

“He’s still way in the learning curve,” Stall said.

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Cox, who trains Naval Aviator, sends Cyberknife straight into a graded stakes after a two-turn maiden win here Dec. 26. Like Trafalgar, Cyberknife lost concentration that day after taking a lead at the quarter pole, turning back a deep-stretch challenge and galloping out well in front. Cyberknife, by Gun Runner, made mistakes in all three of his three starts, drifting and bumping a rival in his debut, which led to his disqualification, and racing erratically second time out. Wednesday morning, Cox himself walked out Cyberknife, an attractive, scopey, well-proportioned chestnut, for a visitor to view while cautioning that the colt was liable to rear. Immature behavior aside, Cyberknife possesses an appealing mix of speed and stamina.

“I really think he’s a good horse,” said Cox, who is putting blinkers back on the colt after removing them following Cyberknife’s debut.

Call Me Midnight has a longshot’s chance. Second to subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile third-place finisher Giant Game in a Keeneland maiden route in October, Giant Game won for the first time Nov. 13 at Churchill, then was a flat seventh just two weeks later in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

“I’m thinking – hoping – I just ran him back too quick,” trainer Keith Desormeaux said.

And then there’s BC Juvenile runner-up, Pappacap, who won the Grade 2 Best Pal in August at Del Mar, took a step back finishing fourth in the Del Mar Futurity, but ended his campaign with second-place finishes to Corniche, North America’s best 2-year-old of 2021. Casse gave Pappacap, another colt by Gun Runner, a brief freshening before getting more serious at his Florida farm in early December. Pappacap came to New Orleans later in the month and has logged four timed workouts here, all encouraging, according to Casse’s local assistant, David Carroll.

He, too, is a good horse. And this looks like a pretty good Lecomte.