Calhoun stakes horses Silver Dust and By My Standards gearing up

Silver Dust, who turns 6 on Jan. 1, and By My Standards, who will be a 4-year-old next year, are gearing up at Fair Grounds.

Silver Dust, who was second in the New Orleans Handicap (now called the New Orleans Classic) last March, won the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes in August and was second in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic in September, his most recent race. He’s logged three Fair Grounds works following a freshening, but won’t be ready to start until January, trainer Bret Calhoun said.

Even if everything goes smoothly, it won’t be until February that Calhoun-trained By My Standards will be ready to start. By My Standards upset the Louisiana Derby this past March and was training with verve for the Kentucky Derby, when whatever chance he had probably was undone by a sloppy racetrack. By My Standards has fought some foot problems but is back on track now, Calhoun said, and has logged a pair of three-furlong workouts at Fair Grounds.

◗ Winning Number hasn’t raced since being disqualified from a two-length win July 5 in the Iowa Derby, and he posted a published workout for the first time since that start when he went a half-mile in 49 seconds Dec. 6 at Fair Grounds. Brian House trains Winning Number for owner James Spry. The Speightstown colt won his first two starts, one at Keeneland the other at Canterbury, before the Iowa Derby, where he was demoted to third in a tough disqualification.