Doncho puts speed to the test in Lafayette

Doncho has looked like a stakes horse since his debut Dec. 30 at Fair Grounds and on Friday, in the $400,000 Lafayette Stakes at Keeneland, he can show that he is one.

Doncho is one of eight 3-year-olds entered in the Lafayette, a seven-furlong dirt race. The competition is stronger than what Doncho beat in his debut and a subsequent allowance win, and Doncho goes a furlong farther than he’s raced.

“He’s super talented. In his works and his races, he’s never been pressed on,” said Michelle Lovell, who trains Doncho for Jose Lopez’s JAL Racing. “He’s going to get tested this time.”

Doncho should pass with high marks.

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Drawn in post 3 with Jaime Torres, Doncho’s stiffest competition drew outside him: Booth, the 9-5 morning-line favorite, has post 5, while Glengarry, likely set too high on the line at 8-1, has post 6.

Glengarry, an Iowa-bred by Maximus Mischief, has done nothing wrong in his four-start career, despite his Beyer Speed Figure dropping to a modest 70 in his most recent start, the Dec. 15 two-turn Springboard Mile. Sprinting, Glengarry crushed Iowa-breds in his first two races at age 2, before coming to Keeneland and capturing the $170,000 Bowman Mill by a half-length. Glengarry, who has plenty of pace, idled after taking a clear midstretch lead in the six-furlong Bowman Mill and appeared to have plenty left at the finish.

A strapping gray colt, Glengarry has grown taller in the four months since his last start. Trainer Doug Anderson has prepared Glengarry for his 3-year-old bow at Oaklawn Park and doesn’t believe his charge will return rusty.

“Two works ago [on March 24] we put him with another stakes horse, and he outworked him pretty good,” Anderson said.

Booth dazzled in his debut last fall at Keeneland, winning at six furlongs by 5 1/4 lengths over the talented colt Nash and earning a glittering 96 Beyer. Booth, by Mitole, ran too fast first out. Six weeks later in the Ed Brown Stakes at Churchill, he pressed the pace and faded to fifth at odds of 3-5.

“He did too much first time out on a racetrack that wasn’t favorable for that, and it told second time out,” said trainer Steve Asmussen.

Booth returned from a winter break Feb. 11 in a first-level allowance sprint at Oaklawn. This time, instead of going forward early, Booth sat behind the leaders, taking sloppy kickback before finding room outside the pacesetters in upper stretch and finishing with a flourish. Booth ran his last furlong in a swift 11.85 and drew off by more than four lengths while not asked for his best.

“We really liked that he wasn’t all out the whole way and looked fast finishing,” Asmussen said. “That was what we were hoping to see.”

Who Dey brings a 4-for-4 record to his 3-year-old debut, winning a Churchill allowance over a mile Nov. 25 after three Ohio-bred wins. He’s a fringe contender, as is Scatify, best ignored if he’s anywhere near as low as his 7-2 morning-line odds. California shipper Scatify cuts back from routes but wasn’t especially impressive in his lone sprint. Bolt At Midnight is a longer shot, Baytown Chatterbox and Frosty Indulgence are essentially no-hopers.

Which brings us back to Doncho, who shaded 1:10 in his debut, winning in a gallop at odds of 21-1. Lovell said Doncho was just barely ready for that race, lacking total fitness. He then dominated rivals stepping into allowance competition Feb. 13, asked to gallop-out strongly and responding with an energetic run around the far turn that bodes well for his chances at seven furlongs.

“Since that race, he’s grown and matured,” Lovell said, who purposefully has worked slowly in recent weeks after several scorchers in New Orleans. “There are a couple horses in there with speed, but I don’t think they can run with him. He’s pretty special.”

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