Hot Calhoun barn behind Lawton in feature

This past Sunday trainer Bret Calhoun won the 3,000th race of his career. That’s big-picture stuff. Zoom in and Most Mischief’s win in the eighth race – the milestone victory – is part of a February surge for the Calhoun barn that might feel close to as good as knocking out the 3,000th.

From this meet’s inception in mid-November through the end of January, Calhoun’s Fair Grounds runners went 4-8-10 in 75 starts. It has taken just two weeks in February for the stable to equal that win total, and Lawton might add to it in the co-featured fourth race Friday.

Lawton, a 5-year-old horse by Archarcharch, returns from an eight-month layoff in a Fair Grounds race, and if that rings a bell for followers of Fair Grounds, it should. In December 2017, Lawton came back from an eight-month break for a Fair Grounds start and won by 2 1/4 lengths. That was a dirt sprint, and Friday’s race is carded for about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, but if anything, Lawton is a better horse on grass. Following that comeback dirt win, Calhoun and owner Tom Durant switched Lawton to turf, and after two competitive first-level allowance losses, he cleared the condition turf-sprinting here in March.

Some handicappers might fear the extended break, but Calhoun believes he has the horse ready, and Lawton, who only has to be fit enough for a short sprint, already has shown he fires fresh.

Lawton could work out a favorable trip stalking a quick, contested pace, although with the temporary turf rail having been taken down during the three dark days this week, and turf racing taking place on the fresh inside part of the course, the expectation is that speed will hold much better than it did on the Fair Grounds grass last week.

Among the pace players is 2-1 morning-line favorite Masked, who hasn’t started since July and has gone from trainer Bob Baffert to trainer Brad Cox, and now returns under the capable care of trainer Michelle Lovell.

Speaking of Cox, he has a live runner in co-featured race 8, a second-level allowance turf sprint, this one restricted to older fillies and mares. Cox sends out Flashly, who dominated a first-level allowance over the local turf last time and has latitude to improve in just her sixth start.