Jack the Umpire probable for Lecomte

Jack the Umpire, who won his second straight two-turn race at Delta Downs last week in the $100,000 Jean Lafitte, is a candidate for the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds, trainer Brett Brinkman said Monday. The Lecomte, at 1 1/16 miles, is the first race on the road to the Louisiana Derby.

Brinkman said Jack the Umpire also would be nominated for the $400,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 15 at Remington Park and the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile on Jan. 26 at Sam Houston. But he said the most probable next spot for the horse will be the Lecomte.

“It makes sense for him,” he said. “We’ve got horses stabled there.”

Brinkman said the race is an opportunity to see how Jack the Umpire stacks up against graded stakes rivals.

“He’s jumped through every hoop we’ve asked him to jump through,” Brinkman said. “It’s time to take the next adventure and see what the outcome is.”

Jack the Umpire is based at Delta, but is scheduled to ship to Fair Grounds next week, said Brinkman. His first win at Delta came by 8 1/4 lengths in an Oct. 30 allowance in the slop. Jack the Umpire came back and wired the field in the Jean Lafitte, winning by 2 3/4 lengths Nov. 23.

“It was totally against the bias that night,” Brinkman said of the Jean Lafitte. “Nobody was [winning] two turns at Delta on the lead. Everything was coming from off of it. He kind of ran against the bias and got it done.”

Brinkman co-bred Jack the Umpire with the horse’s owner, P. Dale Ladner. Jack the Umpire is a son of Bodemeister and the multiple stakes-winning mare Sittin At the Bar.

Underpressure on pace for Champions Day

Underpressure is set to defend his title in the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic on Dec. 14 at Fair Grounds. Trainer Chris Richard said the horse has emerged from a recent Delta Downs allowance win in good order and will continue to train over the local oval before shipping to New Orleans a few days out from Champions Day.

Underpressure returned from a near four-month layoff to win a seven-furlong allowance on Nov. 20 at Delta. He closed from 12 lengths back in the two-turn race, scoring by three-quarters of a length and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 82.

“We freshened him up, gave him a breather and were able to get a prep race here at Delta, a nice allowance he was eligible for,” Richard said. “We were sure happy with how he ran. It was going a little shorter than he likes to do, but he was able to get up. He came out of it in good shape. It was important to get a race into him before we head to New Orleans, because that race is a mile an eighth. We’re very pleased we were able to get a prep race in.”

Underpressure won last year’s Louisiana Champions Day Classis by 3 1/2 lengths under Corey Lanerie, who will again have the mount, said Richard. Underpressure is a five-time stakes winner who races for Mallory Greiner. The son of Birdstone was bred by Jim McIngvale.