Delta Downs: Ide Be Cool brings perfect record into Premier Night Prince

It’s one thing to train a talented, unbeaten young cash cow for another owner, but Henry Ray Dunn’s standout Louisiana-bred Ide Be Cool not only races out of the Dunn shed row, his earnings go into the Dunn bank account.

Dunn ceased operating a public stable a decade ago. The 30 to 40 horses he trains during the course of a year run for him or for his sister, and when it comes to Ide Be Cool, that is a very good thing.

Ide Be Cool is 4 for 4, with earnings of $189,600, and he will be favored to significantly increase that total in the $125,000 Premier Night Prince on Saturday night at Delta Downs.

The Prince, which goes as race 6 with a post time of 8:04 p.m. Central, is one of six six-figure Louisiana-bred stakes on Premier Night, and Ide Be Cool is one of the night’s stars along with Sunbean in the $200,000 Championship, Heitai in the $100,000 Sprint, and Sittin at the Bar in the $100,000 Matron.

Most every year, Dunn buys the handful of horses produced by the handful of mares bred by Gene Batia’s Gulf Haven Farms. Dunn had 16 2-year-olds in 2013. Ide Be Cool and another horse Dunn rates just as highly, Burning Warrior, stood out among the group, and Ide Be Cool has delivered on the track. He won his career debut last summer at Louisiana Downs by almost three lengths, a first-level Delta allowance by six, and after scoring a narrow victory in the Louisiana Legacy at Delta, he destroyed eight foes in the Champions Day Juvenile at Fair Grounds, winning by seven lengths in a fast performance that produced a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

Dunn isn’t concerned that Ide Be Cool looked better in the six-furlong one-turn race at Fair Grounds than he did winning a two-turn mile at Delta. The seven furlongs of the Prince should fall well within his scope, and Ide Be Cool has the speed to get good position – if not the early lead – despite breaking from post 9.

“He was still green the last time he ran at Delta,” Dunn said. “He’s not green any more. If he breaks like he usually does, he ought to make the lead by the first turn.”

My Pal Charlie, drawn in post 10, is the only horse who has come close to beating Ide Be Cool, coming within a neck of him in the Louisiana Legacy.

Heitai formidable in Sprint

Heitai hasn’t just been the best Louisiana-bred sprinter since he started racing for trainer Karl Broberg in November – he has been one of the top sprinters in the region, if not the nation.

During that time span, Heitai has won all three of his one-turn races by more than 28 combined lengths, earning Beyers of 106, 104, and 101. He was on cruise control beating subsequent sharp next-out winner Skip the Pinot in the Jan. 11 Costa Rising at Fair Grounds, and may be even more effective in short-stretch five-furlong dashes at Delta like the Sprint.

Heitai, one of eight horses in the Sprint, drew well in post 7, and will be bet far below his 6-5 morning-line odds. Top Cat Boogie and Unitas look like the only potential upsetters.

Sunbean no sure thing

Sunbean also figures to be heavily favored in the Championship, but his margin for error might be slimmer than Heitai’s. Sunbean is 5 for 5 in Louisiana-bred stakes competition, but he won the Gold Cup at Delta in November by only a neck and held on by a desperate nose to capture the Champions Day Classic last out at Fair Grounds.

Sunbean is one of nine older horses in the 1 1/16-mile Championship, and his stiffest competition might come from Hud’s Rebellion and Heavy On Themister. Hud’s Rebellion’s last two wins came on turf, but he appears to be a meaningfully improved horse over the last six months or so for trainer Andy Leggio.

Heavy on Themister won the Championship by more than five lengths in 2013, but does not come into this year’s race with the same strong form, though he is eligible to move forward from a pair of Fair Grounds sprints following a long layoff.

Matron favorite Sittin at the Bar will be tough

Whatever led Sittin at the Bar to finish a flat fifth at odds of 4-5 in the Champions Day Ladies Sprint in December at Fair Grounds was nowhere to be found Jan. 11, when Sittin at the Bar returned to her typically sparkling form and won a Delta allowance race by six lengths. “Never asked,” reads the accurate short comment in her running line. Sittin At the Bar has won 9 of 16 starts while banking more than $600,000, and it’s not easy to see her failing to add the $60,000 winner’s share of the Matron to her bankroll.

◗ The night’s other stakes are the Starlet for 2-year-old fillies and the Distaff for older fillies and mares.