Far outside perfect for Bertsgoldenmissile
Bertsgoldenmissile already had a lot going for him heading into the $50,000 Gate Dancer at Louisiana Downs on Saturday. And then they pulled post positions for the seven-furlong race. Bertsgoldenmissile drew gate 9 in the field of nine, a post that could give jockey Lonnie Meche options.
"I think we got a good post," said Jorge Lara, who trains Bertsgoldenmissile for Sandra Jarrett. "We just want him to break and kind of stay off the pace a little bit. We're going to try to see if we can kind of relax him and come from a little bit off the pace."
Bertsgoldenmissile brings the best credentials into the Gate Dancer, one of three stakes for 2-year-olds on the closing-day card at Louisiana Downs. The track will also run two $100,000 divisions of the new Louisiana Stallion Stakes.
Bertsgoldenmissile has placed in two stakes this meet, and he owns the Gate Dancer field's best career Beyer Figure, a 71. He earned the number in his last start, when he cut back from a turf route to win a first-level allowance sprint by 4 1/2 lengths at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 1.
"He was really sharp," said Lara. "He just broke and took the lead and went on. He came out of the race feeling good."
Bertsgoldenmissile has been flattered since the race. The runner-up, City Style, returned in his next start to win the $150,000 Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs, and on Tuesday was pre-entered in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. As for Bertsgoldenmissile, with a good performance Saturday he will be pointed for the $150,000 Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs on Nov. 7, Lara said. The race is a prep for the Grade 3, $750,000 Delta Jackpot.
* Foreign Production, a dominant maiden winner last out, and Gaston, who captured the $72,000 Stardust in August, appear to be the top contenders in the Louisiana Stallion Stakes. For its first local running, the seven-furlong race drew a field of 10.
* Hazel Grove, a maiden with experience at seven furlongs, could go favored in the fillies division of the Stallion Stakes.