On edge Cyberknife has the tools for Lecomte

Cyberknife has made mistakes in all three of his starts, which, theoretically, gives him plenty of room to improve jumping from a Dec. 26 Fair Grounds dirt-route maiden win into the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes on Saturday.

On the other side of the same coin, Cyberknife has made mistakes in all three of his starts and, not theoretically but actually, he can’t afford to make more of them in the Lecomte.

A $400,000 yearling sales buy trained by Brad Cox for Gold Square, Cyberknife was bet to 6-5 making his career debut Sept. 25 at Churchill Downs. He crossed the finish a half-length best but was disqualified for knocking into the second-place finisher in upper stretch. Racing in blinkers, Cyberknife also failed to stretch his advantage from the three-sixteenths pole to the finish, seeming to lose focus once he made the lead. Second time out, Cyberknife, racing without blinkers, was the 2-5 favorite in a Nov. 5 Churchill maiden sprint, and here, again, he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, lugging in and drifting out while closing on the leader, eventually settling for second. Stretched to two turns last month at Fair Grounds, Cyberknife finally got a win, his margin of victory just a half-length because the colt lost his focus again after easily making the lead past the quarter pole. When second-place finisher Jeeper ranged up to him in the final half-furlong, Cyberknife re-broke and galloped out in front, a sign that inattention, rather than fatigue, allowed his rival to close ground.

Cox is putting blinkers back on Cyberknife for the Lecomte and shows confidence in the colt by choosing this spot over a first-level, two-turn dirt allowance race earlier on the Saturday card.

“He’s very talented. He can run – he showed that in all three starts,” Cox said. “He has always been a handful and can be a little tough to ride. Not a mean horse or anything, just a very, very good-feeling horse that expresses himself in a very outward manner at times. He likes to rear up, for one thing.”

Cyberknife worked four times last summer at Saratoga without making a start there, and Cox said the colt’s behavior has improved considerably the last few months.

“He was really tough to deal with at Saratoga,” Cox said. “He’s gotten a lot better. He’ll have a good week, week and a half, but he still has his days. He’s just a horse if you school him in the paddock, you do it twice; gate the same thing. We try to keep him busy. But I like the horse a lot.”

In a reasonable wagering scenario, Cyberknife would at most be third betting choice in the Lecomte behind favored Pappacap and second-choice Epicenter, but Cox’s horses often are heavily bet when they develop a reputation. The other Lecomte entrants are Surfer Dude, Unified Report, Trafalgar, Blue Kentucky, Call Me Midnight, and Presidential.

Cox also is set to send Mandaloun out for his 4-year-old debut Saturday in the Louisiana Stakes, which drew fellow 4-year-old Midnight Bourbon. Mandaloun, unraced since winning the Haskell on July 17 via disqualification, had his final work for the Louisiana this past Sunday, going five furlongs in 1:00.80.

For the $100,000 Marie Krantz, Cox has an intriguing South American import, Janelle Monae, a 5-year-old bred on Southern Hemisphere time who brings a 4-for-4 record, including three Group 1 turf wins, into Saturday’s contest at 1 1/16 miles.

“We’ll see, but she trains well. Looks like she can break and be in the mix early. She might be built better for longer distances,” Cox said.