Fair Grounds: Inside-speed bias may give Heitai edge over Delaunay in Kenner

Delaunay rose from the claiming ranks to become one of the best sprinters in the country during the first half of 2013. He didn’t race from early August to late January, but demonstrated in his comeback start, a fast, convincing victory in the Gaudin Memorial at Fair Grounds, that his old electricity still crackled. Even so, Delaunay might have his work cut out attempting to win the $100,000 Duncan Kenner Stakes for the second year in a row Saturday at Fair Grounds.

That owes principally to the presence of Heitai, a Louisiana-bred 4-year-old gelding who has turned in four devastating performances in his five starts since being turned over to trainer Karl Broberg last year. Heitai, racing in restricted competition at Delta Downs and Fair Grounds, won those four races by more than 33 combined lengths, each victory producing a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure. Heitai has post 1, Delaunay post 2, and their matchup in the six-furlong Kenner is an intriguing one.

“This is really his first test against class,” Broberg said. “He’s an absolute freak, but is he going to be the same way if he’s eyeballed? We’re going to find out. But what can I say? He’s the fastest horse I’ve ever trained.”

Delaunay is 4 for 4 at Fair Grounds, and in fact has never been seriously challenged in any of those races. He’s a front-running type, too, but probably not quite as fast out of the blocks as Heitai, who has set two track records at Delta this winter. Tom Amoss, Delaunay’s trainer, expressed concern over what he believes has been a prevailing recent inside-speed bias on the Fair Grounds main track.

Heitai “is going to get to the front; he’s the fastest horse in the race,” Amoss said. “Delaunay is doing well, and I think he’s his old self, but the way this track has been for the past week, the race might have been won and lost at the draw. The bias has been so pronounced that speed and the rail would absolutely win that stakes if it were run today.”

Three of the other four Kenner entrants – Bet Seattle, Lemon Drop Dream, and Countercyclical – exit a winning performance over the Fair Grounds dirt track, and the fourth horse, Silver Lining John, finished a close second last out in a Sam Houston sprint stakes. Lemon Drop Dream has reeled off three straight six-furlong victories at Fair Grounds, and Bet Seattle is a stakes winner, but Countercyclical is the most interesting of the longer-priced entrants. Returning from a layoff in only his third career start, he blazed to a 12-length first-level allowance-race win Feb. 7 at Fair Grounds, and since has turned in another fleet five-furlong workout.