Heitai targets millionaire status in Turf Sprint

Heitai’s strategy on Saturday in the $300,000 Evangeline Downs Turf Sprint will be the same one that has carried the Louisiana-bred to the brink of $1 million in career earnings.

“We’re going to break and go,” said trainer Tom Amoss. “That’s his M.O., and that’s what we plan on doing.”

Heitai, a winner of 14 races who has earned $921,043 for owner and breeder Rowell Enterprises, can become a millionaire with a win in the Evangeline Turf Sprint. He is the defending champ in the five-furlong race that serves as the richest offering of the meet in Opelousas, La.

The Evangeline Turf Sprint is part of a package of five stakes worth $640,000 on Saturday, with the card starting at 3:05 p.m. Central. The program also features a pick four with a guaranteed pool of $100,000, and it groups four of the stakes in a sequence that runs on races 5-8.

:: Evangeline Turf Sprint: Watch live video of Saturday’s card from Evangeline Downs

Key contenders

Heitai (Last 3 Beyers: 83-98-100)

* He appears to be the race’s controlling speed, particularly after trainer Brian Lynch said Wednesday that Power Alert, a multiple stakes winner who drew the rail, will not run due to rain in the forecast for much of the week in Opelousas.

* Heitai was eighth to Power Alert in the Grade 3 Twin Spires Turf Sprint in his last start May 1, a rare off-the-board finish for a horse who had won three straight stakes leading up to the sprint on the undercard of the Kentucky Oaks.

“He trained great going into the Churchill Downs race,” Amoss said. “He lacked a certain brightness of coat going into that race that was subtle, and I don’t know how many people would have paid attention to it. He lost his coat a little, and the race was a reflection of that. He didn’t run well. But he trained great into the race. We were surprised.”

* Amoss said Heitai has thrived since, and he expects him to run his race Saturday. Amoss has had Heitai in his care since January, winning three of four starts with a horse looking to become just the seventh accredited Louisiana-bred to reach millionaire status.

“He’s an interesting horse,” Amoss said. “He doesn’t run like he trains. In the morning, he’s a laid-back, kind-of-quiet horse. In the afternoon, he’s anything but. That does make it easy to train him. He’s a contradiction of sorts as to how he trains in the morning and how he runs in the afternoon.”

* Diego Saenz has the mount on Heitai from post 5.

:: Bet Evangeline with DRF Bets. Get up to a $500 cash bonus! Find out more today.

Gantry (Last 3 Beyers: 86-93-83)

* He’s a Grade 2 winner who, like Heitai, would become a millionaire with a win Saturday. Gantry enters off a close fifth-place finish in the local prep, the $60,000 Need For Speed, won by Evangeline Turf Sprint entrant Reflector on May 2. Gantry was beaten a length in what was his first start since December.

“I think we’ll see a better performance out of him,” said trainer Ron Faucheux. “We’re going to add blinkers. He’s an older gelding, and we want to change things up. Five-eighths is probably not his ideal or perfect distance, but maybe the blinkers will have him a little closer to the pace. I think he should run back to his form.”

* Richard Eramia has the mount from post 4.

Great Minds (Last 3 Beyers: 85-78-76)

* He was a fast-closing second in a Keeneland allowance over yielding turf in his last start April 17. There is a 60 percent chance of precipitation Saturday.

* Colby Hernandez, the leading rider at Evangeline, has the mount for trainer Al Stall Jr.