Clearly Cheating stretching out on all-turf card
Louisiana Downs is going green on Saturday.
The track is putting on an all-turf card, the first of two such programs planned for the meet, with the other July 16.
The concept appears to be a hit with horsemen. Saturday’s seven-race program drew 75 entrants for an average of more than 10 horses per race. Mother Nature appears to be on board, too. The forecast calls for highs in the mid-90s and the possibility of a “stray” shower, according to The Weather Channel.
Clearly Cheating will be moving back to turf in the featured sixth race, a first-level allowance that drew 11 fillies and mares. It will be run over 7 1/2 furlongs, giving Clearly Cheating a chance at notching her first two-turn win. Claimed in March, she’s won turf sprints at Hawthorne and Fair Grounds.
“The filly has been training like she can handle more ground,” said Brett Brinkman, who trains Clearly Cheating for Donald Patin. “When I first received her in my barn, we kind of stuck a tag on her as a pure sprinter. But the way she’s kind of settled in and is training, I think she has the potential to stretch on out down the racetrack.”
Brinkman said if Clearly Cheating shows she can handle the new distance demands, it would open up more options for the daughter of Broken Vow. Clearly Cheating, 4, is a half-sister to Aireofdistinction, a multiple sprint stakes winner who earned $329,521.
“She has a little late-maturing kind of aspect to her,” Brinkman said of Clearly Cheating. “She’s a big, really good-looking filly. She’s just got a lot of class about her. We’ll see if we can develop forward.”
Jose Riquelme has the mount from post 10.
Louisiana Downs has a handful of ontrack festivities Saturday. Hall of Fame rider Randy Romero will be signing autographs. Gary West will be signing copies of a book he co-wrote with Daily Racing Form contributor Bob Fortus. And food trucks and other activities will adorn the apron in Bossier City. First post is 3:15 p.m. Central.