Big names no big deal

NEW ORLEANS - Lone Star Sky and Most Feared sputtered out of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with mediocre performances, but the fact they were good enough even to try the race might give these colts an edge Saturday in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Or it might not.

Most Feared and Lone Star Sky haven't raced since last fall, and neither of their trainers is advertising his colt as a standout in the Grade 3, $100,000 Lecomte. With only three works since returning from a layoff, Lone Star Sky might need a race before delivering a top effort, trainer Tom Amoss said. Trainer Ronny Werner thinks Most Feared probably wants to run longer than the one mile of the Lecomte.

Lone Star Sky already has won round 1. He drew well, getting post 6 in a field of 11, while Most Feared is stuck outside in post 10, far away from the inside draw Werner desired. The Lecomte, boosted to Grade 3 status this year, has a short run into the first turn and a short stretch run to the finish at the sixteenth pole.

There are other solid horses in the Lecomte. Leo's Last Hurrahy didn't make it to the Breeders' Cup, but he racked up more than $326,000 in earnings last year without leaving the state of Texas. Leo's Last Hurrahy started only once in a two-turn dirt race, winning the Houston Texan Juvenile, but trainer Bob Young feels his colt's future lies in distance races on dirt. He drew well in post 3.

Stretchout sprinters Defrere's Vixen and Saintly Look break from outside posts and figure to leave for position, while Call Me Lefty and Lone Star Sky should show speed from midpack.

"We drew a good post; the question now is how is he going to run at two turns," Amoss said of Lone Star Sky, who won the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at six furlongs and the Cradle Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, but was 11th in the Breeders' Cup. "I think he's ready to run, but I think this race will get him where we want him to be next time."

Most Feared was sixth in the Breeders' Cup, but won the Arlington-Washington Futurity and ran well when he finished third in the Kentucky Jockey Club to close out his 2-year-old campaign.

"His works have been really strong," Werner said. "We're going to be laying a little closer this time. It's not quite his style, but with the flat mile he's got to be closer."

Mark Guidry comes in from Gulfstream to ride Most Feared.

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