King: Mr. Money can get paid in full in Lecomte Stakes
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Last year, Instilled Regard brought Grade 1 credentials into the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds, having run third (placed second via disqualification) in the Los Alamitos Futurity, and left with a decisive victory as the second betting choice at odds of just more than 2-1.
Saturday’s edition of the Lecomte, which drew a full field of competitive 3-year-olds, also includes a couple of last-out Grade 1 competitors in Mr. Money and Tight Ten, who ran fourth and ninth in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. In their case, however, they do not figure to be as fancied as Instilled Regard was at the betting windows.
Mr. Money is 5-1 on the morning line, with the potential to drift higher, while Tight Ten, hampered when racing greenly into the first turn in the Juvenile, sits at 8-1.
I do not sense much buzz surrounding them, which is somewhat surprising for a couple of 3-year-olds with experience racing against classier. Instead, it seems Plus Que Parfait and War of Will are garnering most of the prerace attention of public handicappers, and if it rains as forecasted in New Orleans on Saturday, creating an off track, I get the sense that their mutuel popularity will only grow. Both colts ran well over a sloppy surface at Churchill Downs in November.
Despite the virtues of Plus Que Parfait and War of Will, it is Mr. Money who most sparks my interest. Though not particularly fast on speed figures, he is otherwise appealing, having made strides since stretching out to two turns. On Sept. 28 he won a maiden race at Churchill by 3 3/4 lengths going 1 1/16 miles, an effort that encouraged his connections to try him in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
By matching him up against Game Winner and 11 other rivals, his connections went swinging for the fences. Though Mr. Money didn’t hit a home run, he didn’t strike out, either. He kept pace in a stalking position until early stretch before flattening out over the final furlong to lose by 9 1/2 lengths.
The mere fact that trainer Bret Calhoun and owner Allied Racing Stable tried him in the Juvenile indicates the high regard they have for him. Judging from the times of his breezes over the past month or so at Fair Grounds, they should be just as optimistic going forward. He worked bullets Dec. 15 and Jan. 3 and capped off his Lecomte training with a half-mile breeze in 48 seconds last Saturday, tied for third-fastest of 145 that morning.
Further encouraging is his ratable speed and a draw in post 4, which may allow jockey Gabe Saez to work out a quality trip in a race at a mile and 70 yards that has a short dash to the first turn.
Plus Que Parfait and others drawn toward the outside may have to take the long way around, though in Plus Que Parfait’s case, that is essentially the kind of trip he had in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill on Nov. 24, and he still nearly won, rallying to finish second, beaten a neck by Signalman.
Mandy Blue in Silverbulletday
One race before the Lecomte, 3-year-old fillies go in the Silverbulletday, which drew only seven. Even so, the price looks right on 9-2 shot Mandy Blue, a winner of her two starts.
Despite her perfect record, she seems likely to be viewed with skepticism by bettors as she moves from turf to dirt. In winning on grass at Fair Grounds on Dec. 26, she earned a 73 Beyer Speed Figure, far above the 51 she posted in winning a dirt sprint at Indiana Grand on Oct. 16.
I am hopeful her much faster race was related to getting the opportunity to route more so than the grass. Her pedigree would seem to suggest this since she is by Smart Strike and out of the A. P. Indy mare Malvinia.
Her trainer, Brad Cox, also has a winning history with horses shifting from turf to dirt. He seems to transition his horses quite frequently when they are young, including stable star Monomoy Girl, who made her first two starts on turf before moving to dirt and winning the Rags to Riches at Churchill in October 2017.
These positive angles noted, Mandy Blue still likely needs to continue her recent progression to win yet again. Two of her six rivals, Liora and Cowgirls Like Us, are stakes winners, and Needs Supervision was a fast allowance winner in the slop at Churchill Downs on Nov. 24, after which a group of prominent owners acquired a majority interest in her.
