Fair Grounds: Howard sends out well-bred pair in Thursday allowances

Neil Howard’s days as a head trainer date to 1979, and many of those years have been spent handling horses owned by Will Farish. When Howard gets a young horse bred by Farish these days, he often will have trained a long string of the animal’s siblings, if not parents. Such is the case with the 3-year-old filly Handmade and the 3-year-old colt Class Leader, both of whom see action in first-level, two-turn allowance races Thursday at Fair Grounds.

Class Leader is one of five entrants in the third race, while Handmade is one of six fillies in race 5. Both drew the rail – a plus on a dirt track that has been biased toward inside paths and speed in recent weeks – both exit recent Fair Grounds maiden wins around two turns, and both come from a family well known to Howard.

Class Leader, by Smart Strike and out of Class Kris, is a brother to Student Council and Gradepoint; Howard sent out the latter to win the 2004 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. Class Leader finished sixth while debuting in a sprint last fall at Churchill and won a two-turn maiden race Feb. 17 at Fair Grounds in his second career start.

“This is a good-sized colt, and it took him a while to mature,” Howard said. “He’s done very well since his last race. You’d think the farther, the better for him a little down the road.”

Class Leader tracked a pace duel in his maiden win, making the lead in midstretch under heavy urging from jockey James Graham. He changed leads in deep stretch, drifting to the inside fence, and did not gallop out especially well, though there probably is room for growth here.

But Class Leader will have trouble chasing down Candy Dandy if the Fair Grounds track continues to favor speed. Candy Dandy easily won his debut last June at Churchill and, according to trainer Steve Asmussen, was injured when he finished fifth as the favorite in the Aug. 11 Saratoga Special, his most recent start.

“He’s got plenty of work back in him,” Asmussen said. “I’m a little concerned with the two turns off the bench, but he’s very talented.”

Handmade won her maiden a day before Class Leader and is his close relative. The horses share the same second dam, Classic Value, though Handmade is a smaller, more athletic model.

“She’s a little handier, a little different body type,” Howard said.

Handmade has more foundation beneath her than Class Leader, having raced three times at this meet. She has made progress from start to start, breaking through with a good win Feb. 16 in a maiden route that featured the debut of Rachel Alexandra’s sister Samantha Nicole. While Samantha Nicole finished second, Handmade showed a nice turn of foot, moving into a slow pace to take control of the race on the far turn and running out a 6 1/2-length winner. Stretch-out sprinter Cash Control might attempt to control the pace, but expect Handmade to keep her in range and win again.