Louisiana Downs: Wando Redd returns

Wando Redd was one of the top 3-year-olds at the Louisiana Downs meet a year ago, but his connections passed on the Super Derby in favor of focusing on sprinting with the horse. On Saturday, Wando Redd will race around one turn in the track’s featured ninth race. The $25,000 optional claimer with second-level allowance conditions will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs, and it drew a large field of 11.

Wando Redd displayed his considerable talent last July, when he defeated older rivals by more than five lengths in a first-level allowance sprint at Louisiana Downs. He earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 93, and from that point owner Sandra Jarrett and trainer Jorge Lara decided to target the $200,000 Remington Park Sprint Championship for the horse rather than send him two turns in the Super Derby prep, the Prelude. Wando Redd finished second in the Remington Park Sprint Championship to Atta Boy Roy.

Wando Redd will be making his second start of the year. He last raced at Evangeline Downs on April 7 and was sixth in an allowance won by Southern Style. Following that race, Southern Style took the $50,000 Need for Speed at Evangeline with a 92 Beyer. Wando Redd, meanwhile, has breezed back at Louisiana Downs and will break from post 7, under Quincy Hamilton.