Delta Downs Jackpot runners shipping in from all corners

Laurie’s Rocket and Jake Mo were traveling to Louisiana on Tuesday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot. The 1 1/16-mile race is one of the richest offerings for 2-year-olds in North America, and it will be run on a six-furlong oval in the small southwestern Louisiana town of Vinton.

Laurie’s Rocket, a Saratoga maiden winner and the fourth-place finisher in the Grade 1 Hopeful, on Tuesday was shipping from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., to Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where his trainer, Dallas Stewart, also has a division of horses. The horse will then van over to Delta later in the week, Stewart said.

“I think he’ll fit good on the racetrack,” Stewart said. “He’s very handy. He should do well on the turns, and he always finishes good.”

Stewart, who trains Laurie’s Rocket for Willis Horton, said the horse will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr.

Jake Mo, a stakes winner and the fifth-place finisher in the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint, vanned out of his Lone Star Park base at 3 a.m. Tuesday headed for Fair Grounds, where his trainer, Allen Milligan, has a stable. Milligan said Jake Mo would then ship Friday afternoon to Delta. He said Don Simington has the mount Saturday.

Longview Drive, Drill, and Basmati were all to fly from California to Shreveport, La., on Wednesday, then van into Delta.

Doug O’Neill, who trains Basmati, the fourth-place finisher in the Grade 1 Norfolk, said Corey Nakatani has the mount in the Jackpot.

Others expected for the race include My Adonis, winner of the $200,000 Jean Lafitte last month at Delta; Seven Lively Sins, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill; and Dougs Buddy, a 4-for-4 multiple stakes winner from Northlands Park who arrived in Vinton on Nov. 1. Dougs Buddy is to be ridden by Rex Stokes III, trainer Joan Petrowski said.

No Spin, an overnight stakes winner last month at Hawthorne, shipped to Delta last week, but needs a defection to get into the field. His trainer, Tim Ice, said as a back-up plan he has nominated the horse to the $300,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park on Dec. 10.

The Jackpot is the anchor of a special afternoon program that features eight stakes worth $2.2 million. The other major race on the card is the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess. Delightful Magic will be making her stakes debut in the one-mile race for 2-year-old fillies. She was to ship from Churchill to Delta on Tuesday, according to trainer Mark Casse.

“I think her race style suits the racetrack,” said Casse, who will give the mount to Shaun Bridgmohan.

Others expected for the Princess include Citizen Advocate, winner of the local prep, the $150,000 My Trusty Cat; and Candrea, runner-up in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf who is to add blinkers, according to trainer Bob Baffert. Now I Know, an undefeated stakes winner based at Remington, will ship to Delta no earlier than Thursday, trainer Don Von Hemel said.