Calhoun has multiple options in Champions Day Classic, Turf
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The first key handicapping question regarding the Louisiana Champions Day Classic on Saturday at Fair Grounds is this: Who’s actually running?
Eight were entered in the Classic, at $150,000 the richest of seven Thoroughbred races for Louisiana-breds on the Louisiana Champions Day program, which begins with three Quarter Horse contests.
Trainer Bret Calhoun entered two horses, Who Took the Money and Highland Creek, both of whom figure – and both of whom were cross-entered in the $100,000 Turf.
Calhoun also has Budro Talking in the Turf, and when entries were taken Dec. 4 for this card, the New Orleans forecast called for heavy rain several days late this week. Calhoun figured the Turf would be rained onto dirt, he’d scratch Budro Talking and split the two other horses between two six-figure dirt races, the Turf and the Classic. The forecast has gotten drier, but even if the Turf stays on grass, Calhoun said, he’s leaning toward scratching one of his Classic entrants and running him in the Turf. But as of Thursday, Calhoun wasn’t sure which way he was going
“I really haven’t decided. We’ll let it play out till the weekend and make a decision,” said Calhoun.
The Classic is a 1 1/8-mile race, the Turf is run over 1 1/16 miles, but Calhoun said he thinks both Who Took the Money and Highland Creek can handle 1 1/8 miles.
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On March 20, in the Crescent City Derby at Fair Grounds, Who Took the Money overcame a difficult trip and his own naughty pre-race behavior to beat Highland Creek by a neck. Who Took the Money won an open first-level Indiana Grand sprint allowance race coming back Oct. 5 from a four-month layoff, and a bad start leading to a mud-soaked trip over a sloppy Churchill Downs track Nov. 25 led to a poor performance last month. “He couldn’t tolerate the slop,” Calhoun said.
Highland Creek returned from his own layoff with an eye-catching Delta Downs allowance win Nov. 24 and might be the stronger play Saturday. “At the time of the Crescent City Derby, Who Took the Money was the better horse, but I’m not so sure anymore that Highland Creek might not be the better of the two,” said Calhoun.
Six-year-old Pound for Pound could be favored in the Classic, a race he won in 2019 but missed last year. Delta-based Pound for Pound always has been more a miler than a true nine-furlong horse and concedes seven pounds to Highland Creek.
As for the $100,000 Turf, it, like the Classic, lacks formidable older runners, and whichever Calhoun 3-year-old ends up racing there – provided one does – will have a decent chance. Bettors shouldn’t hesitate considering longer prices like Britt’s a Closer and Jaci’s Royalty; the temporary turf rail will be placed 20 feet out Saturday and at that configuration closers like those two often have an edge.
Ladies Sprint
The race of the day Saturday might be between two fillies in the $100,000 Ladies Sprint.
Cilla won the Grade 2 Prioress this past summer at Saratoga and comes into this start following a good third-place finish in the Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland. Yet Cilla might not have any real edge over a fellow 3-year-old, Ova Charged, who finished second this past July in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont Park and runs Saturday hot on the heels of a Louisiana-bred sprint allowance romp.
Cilla drew inside Ova Charged and gives her main rival four pounds under the six-furlong sprint’s allowance conditions.
Both fillies are homebreds, Cilla campaigned by breeder Dale Ladner and trainer Brett Brinkman. By California Chrome, Cilla is the third stakes winner produced by nine-time Louisiana-bred stakes winner Sittin at the Bar.
Ova Charged, who romped in her three starts outside the Victory Ride, was bred and is owned by the Brittlyn Stables and is trained by Jose Camejo, who entered the racing week with a 7-5-1 record from 21 Fair Ground starters this meet.
Juvenile, Lassie
Anthony Davis, the NBA superstar, went from New Orleans, where he played for the Pelicans, to Southern California, where he joined the Lakers and now co-stars with Lebron James.
Bron and Brow, a 2-year-old colt, is moving the opposite direction.
Named for James (nicknamed “Bron”) and Davis (sometimes call “Brow” for his distinctive eyebrows), Bron and Brow debuted with a third-place finish facing open maidens at Del Mar and is set to make his second start in New Orleans against nine foes in the $100,000 Juvenile.
Peter Miller trained Bron and Brow for owner Gary Barber in his first race, but the colt now resides in the Fair Grounds barn of Mark Casse, which is overseen by assistant trainer David Carroll. Bron and Brow was cross-entered in a Saturday maiden race but goes in the Juvenile, Casse said.
“Gary and I discussed it and we can always drop back to a maiden,” Casse said. “We’ve only had the horse for a very short time. David has been extremely impressed with him – and he’s not easily impressed.”
Bron and Brow’s third-place debut finish took on added luster when the race’s runner up, Sir London, aired in a Los Alamitos maiden mile in his next start.
Still, the horse to beat here is Unified Report, a Dallas Stewart-trained colt who won an open Churchill maiden sprint in his debut and on Oct. 23 at Delta Downs proved much the best in the $100,000 Louisiana Legacy.
The $100,000 Lassie, for 2-year-old fillies, might not have entrants quite of that caliber, with recent Louisiana-bred maiden winner Basalt Street the possible favorite.
Sprint
No Parole, a Grade 1 winner, would easily win the $100,000 Champions Day Sprint on his best day, but No Parole hasn’t had a best day in 10 months. He ended a winter-spring campaign this past April with a poor performance in the Count Fleet at Oaklawn, followed by surgery that kept him out of action for several months, and threw in a Delta Downs clunker in his comeback start this fall. Throw that race out, said trainer Tom Amoss.
“I wouldn’t enter him if I didn’t think he was doing well, and he is,” said Amoss. “His race was canceled and he was stuck down there at Delta for two weeks. Things just didn’t go right, and he ran terribly.”
No Parole’s outside draw pleased Amoss, who concedes his horse is a “need the lead type.” If No Parole misfires again, Sir Wellington, winner of the 2020 Champions Day Juvenile, can post a mild upset.
◗ Winning Romance, trainer Bret Calhoun contends, got the wrong trip last out in a Churchill Downs allowance race, and the filly can bounce back Saturday and win the $100,000 Ladies Distaff, which could have Net a Bear as the favorite.