Golden Tempo goes last to first in Lecomte Stakes
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Last of 10 at the half-mile pole, Golden Tempo was first past the post Saturday at Fair Grounds in the Lecomte Stakes.
It’s just Jan. 17, and the 1:44.98 final time Golden Tempo posted for the 1 1/16-mile Lecomte was not at all fast, but Golden Tempo had made only one previous start, a sprint, and handled not just the longer distance Saturday but stronger competition. He won going away and continued widening his margin on the gallop out – like a 3-year-old colt looking for more distance.
That he will get if all goes well. The Grade 3, $250,000 Lecomte is part of Churchill Downs’ Road to the Kentucky Derby, and the victory got Golden Tempo 20 qualifying points toward the Triple Crown’s first leg. Mesquite, second by three-quarters of a length, earned 10 Derby qualifying points and completed a stakes exacta for trainer Cherie DeVaux, who has never run a horse in a Triple Crown race.
Jose Ortiz gave Golden Tempo a sweet ride, though the pair dropped farther behind the pace than one might have expected since Golden Tempo exited a six-furlong dash. That distance was supposed to be too short for a colt bred like a route horse and who had trained like one from the start, DeVaux has said, but Golden Tempo went last to first that day, too, going a quick final quarter-mile for a 2-year-old first-time starter.
Hardly a secret in the Lecomte, Golden Tempo, 8-1 on the morning line, paid $7.40 as the favorite. Carson Street, pressed every step while leading through legitimate splits of 23.72 and 47.11, held admirably for third, just a neck behind Mesquite and three-quarters of a length in front of Chip Honcho. Winner last month of the Gun Runner Stakes, Chip Honcho broke poorly from his far outside post, lost significant ground around the first turn while failing to settle, as also happened in the Gun Runner, and did not run badly finishing fourth. Quality Mischief, who raced alongside Golden Tempo but could not quicken with him on the far turn, rounded out the Derby point placings, the third- through fifth-place finishers earning 6, 4, and 2 points.
Exosome finished sixth and was followed by Stop the Car, pace-pressing Crown the Buckeye, a fairly disappointing White Tiger, and Thunder Buck.
DeVaux trains Golden Tempo for his breeders, the Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable. Golden Tempo is by Curlin out of Carrumba, by Bernardini – bred like a classic horse.
“Very impressed,” said Ortiz, who also had ridden Mesquite to a maiden win, Flavien Prat taking that mount Saturday. “Honestly, I was a little worried; you never know how they’re going to react going two turns. But he worked very good last week.”
Relaxed while about seven lengths from the leaders at the half-mile pole, Golden Tempo quickened sharply when Ortiz, following a move outside him from Prat on Mesquite, asked his mount to get going. Passing horses into the homestretch, Golden Tempo split Stop the Car and Thunder Buck at the quarter pole, Ortiz angling sharply down to the rail for his final bid. Golden Tempo didn’t reach the leaders until they’d passed the sixteenth pole, but clearly was going best at the wire as Mesquite lunged outside Carson Street to gain second.
“As the race is going, you’re hoping the horse doesn’t have that immaturity or lack of experience,” DeVaux said. “When he started picking it up and was on the inside, I was a little concerned he might get green, and he did idle a little bit.”
The colt hesitated only slightly before focusing and finishing the job. Last to first his first two starts, we surely have not heard the last of Golden Tempo.
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