Leader of Men rides win streak into Super Derby

Leader of Men will be looking for his fifth consecutive win at the Louisiana Downs meet on Saturday, when he starts in the Grade 3, $300,000 Super Derby. He is part of a field of 10 for the track’s richest race, which also drew Grade 1 winner Knicks Go, New Mexico stakes winner Vangilder, and the promising Rescind.

The Super Derby will anchor a 13-race card that has a special first post of noon Central. There are seven stakes on the card worth a cumulative $660,000. It is the richest program of the meet.

Leader of Men has been unbeatable at Louisiana Downs. He won a maiden special weight route on turf May 6, then proceeded to capture an entry-level allowance route on dirt May 27, a second-level allowance route on dirt July 8, and the $60,000 Prelude Stakes, the local prep for the Super Derby, in his most recent out Aug. 3.

“He’s doing super,” said Jodie Hodges, who trains Leader of Men. “He’s better now than he was in the Prelude. He just keeps getting better. He’s more focused on what he’s doing. He knows what he’s supposed to be doing.”

Leader of Men was a private purchase after running a troubled sixth in a $50,000 maiden-claiming race Feb. 7 at Santa Anita. He races for Kevin Walpole, an owner for six years who has an insurance agency in the same Bossier City, La., community as Louisiana Downs.

“Kevin was born and raised here,” Hodges said. “He told me last year before we left here he wanted to have a horse in the Super Derby. When I got to Fair Grounds I talked to Jack Sisterson, who trains for Calumet, and told him we were looking for a 3-year-old we could kind of point for the Super Derby. A month later, he told me about this horse.”

Leader of Men is a gelding by War Front. His dam, the Grade 2-placed Refugee, has produced the multiple Grade 1 winners Hoppertunity, who is an earner of $4.7 million, and Executiveprivilige, who ran out $999,000.

The pedigree stands out in a Super Derby that drew a number of well-bred runners. Pirate’s Punch is a half-brother to Girvin, winner of the Grade 1 Haskell who earned $1.6 million. Rotation is a full brother to Tapiture, a multiple Grade 2 winner of $1.5 million, and Rescind is a half-brother to Apart, a winner of the Super Derby.

The complete field for this year’s running, from the rail with riders, is: Rotation, Richard Eramia; Cabot, Marcelino Pedroza; Pirate’s Punch, Robby Albarado; Vangilder, C.J. McMahon; Trevilion, Diego Saenz; Rescind, Joel Dominguez; Fredonian, Carlos Lozada; Knicks Go, Colby Hernandez; Leader of Men, Hector Del-Cid, and Paynt Battle, Tommy Pompell.

The 1 1/16-mile race is scheduled as the 11th, with a post of 5:07 p.m. Central.

◗ Big Changes will start from post 12 Saturday in the $60,000 Frank L. Brothers, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up that he won when the race was called the Unbridled.