Guest Suite looks great after winning Lecomte
NEW ORLEANS – Guest Suite did not appear to maximally extend himself winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds, and his trainer, Neil Howard, saw nothing to contradict that impression Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Guest Suite had cleaned his feed tub and was acting like his typically energetic self on Sunday. Nearly all horses that race don’t train the following day, and Guest Suite was no exception Sunday, but Howard doesn’t plan to give Guest Suite many more days off.
“He came out of the race really well,” Howard said. “He’s not a horse you’d want to keep in the barn too many days. With a horse like him, it’s better to take them to the track and do a little something.”
Guest Suite, making his first start since Nov. 26, won for the third time in five starts while capturing his first stakes race. He beat Untrapped by 1 1/4 lengths while running one mile and 70 yards on a muddy, sealed track in 1:43.20, a raw time that produced a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 82, a career best.
If all goes well with Guest Suite, and barring a change of course from Howard and owners Will Farish and Lora Jean Kilroy, Guest Suite will make his next start here Feb. 25 in the Risen Star Stakes, Howard said.
Guest Suite, by Quality Road out of Guest House, by Ghostzapper, is a gelding. Howard said the horse was castrated before ever coming to the racetrack owing to studdish, unruly behavior.
Plans are not set for Lecomte runner-up Untrapped, who also exited his race in good condition and was full of energy early Sunday morning, according to trainer Steve Asmussen. Untrapped, who had to wait for room when stuck behind tiring front-runners at the top of the stretch, got an 80 Beyer, his best number from three starts, and an indication the colt wintered well and could continue improving. A son of Trappe Shot and the Giant’s Causeway mare Exit Three, Untrapped finished second to recent Smarty Jones Stakes winner Uncontested in a Keeneland maiden race before winning for the first time making his second career start at Churchill Downs on Nov. 20. Both races were sprints, and Asmussen was very encouraged by how relaxed and manageable Untrapped was in his two-turn debut, and how well he was able to finish in his first start of the year.
Lecomte third-place finisher Takeoff was bright and had a good appetite back in trainer Mark Casse’s barn Sunday morning, and he, too, is likely for the Risen Star, according to assistant trainer David Carroll. Takeoff tracked a fast pace from third in the Lecomte and held on solidly while racing outside the maiden ranks for the first time.
Also possible for the Risen Star is fourth-place Arklow, who was short of room in deep stretch and finished decently while beaten a nose by Takeoff. Arklow remains eligible for a maiden race after four starts.