Hidden Connection should move forward in Fair Grounds allowance

Hidden Connection should take a step forward making her second start after an extended layoff and win the featured seventh race Friday at Fair Grounds. Where she goes after that, and how high she can ascend, remains to be seen.

A 3-year-old filly trained by Bret Calhoun, Hidden Connections looked like a star in the making after winning her career debut in August 2021 at Colonial Downs by more than seven lengths and the Pocahontas Stakes a month later at Churchill by more than nine. She disappointed with a distant fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, ran somewhat flat last February in the Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds, but bounced back with a close second behind Echo Zulu in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

The filly’s form cycle was cut short, however, when she bled while finishing 12th in the Kentucky Oaks, and Hidden Connection didn’t race again for more than six months.

“She bled pretty good on me in the Kentucky Oaks, and we gave her plenty of time off,” said Calhoun. Bringing Hidden Connection back to the races, Calhoun went easy, trying to impart fitness without over-stressing a horse who might be susceptible to bleeding again. All things considered Hidden Connection figured to need her comeback run Nov. 13 in a Churchill sprint allowance, Calhoun said, and she did, finishing third. “I thought we got the race we needed, a prep race for moving forward. The main objective is to build her fitness up to a peak level and hope she’s the kind of filly to bounce back and start competing in graded stakes again.”

:: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now!

Friday’s race, at 1 1/16 miles and open to second-level allowance horses or $50,000 claimers, is no graded stakes, and with an expected move forward, Hidden Connection should handle her eight rivals.

The Churchill sprint wasn’t bad: The track surface produced significant kickback that day, which Hidden Connections, stuck behind horses most of the trip, appeared to dislike. Once jockey Reylu Gutierrez got her outside a furlong from home, the filly leveled off nicely and finished with interest.

Purrfect could prove the main rival, but her 6 1/2-length first-level allowance win Nov. 25 at Fair Grounds, is tough to read. Making her fourth career start and her two-turn debut, Purrfect appeared to improve going a route of ground, but she also got an easy trip facing just five foes on a sloppy track.

Andthewinneris to Gun Runner

Andthewinneris, who won the Bourbon Stakes in October over the Keeneland grass and was seventh, beaten just 3 1/2 lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, will start on dirt Dec. 26 in the Gun Runner Stakes, trainer Wayne Catalano said.

Catalano has raved about Andthewinneris’s training on dirt, and his lone previous dirt start, a distant third behind Gulfport on July 4 in the Bashford Manor Stakes, came over a sprint distance. Andthewinneris, by Oscar Performance out of Run Like the Boss, by Scat Daddy, has logged two works over the Fair Grounds main track.

“If he’s good on the dirt, good; if not, we can go back to grass,” said Catalano, who starts Manny Wah in the $100,000 Richie Scherer Memorial and Oliviaofthedesert in the $100,000 Blushing K. D. on the Dec. 26 card.

Touchuponastar to Delta

Touchuponastar got a graded-stakes class 100 Beyer Speed Figure easily winning the Louisiana Champions Day Classic on Dec. 10, but connections have no plans of taking on graded-stakes competition in the immediate future. Jake Delhomme, the principal in the family partnership that campaigns the Star Guitar gelding, said Touchuponastar is being aimed at the $150,000 Louisiana Premier Championship on Feb. 4 at Delta Downs.

“He’s a gelding. We have no grandiose plans right now. We anticipate him being around for a long time,” said Delhomme.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.