Mr. Big News looks to get back in the headlines
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Pop quiz (and don’t Google it): Who was third behind Authentic and Tiz the Law at Churchill Downs just a little more than a year ago?
If you didn’t guess Mr. Big News, you’re probably not alone. The Giant’s Causeway colt, who finished ahead of 12 others in the pandemic-postponed Kentucky Derby run on Sept. 5, 2020, might be trivia fodder now, but trainer Bret Calhoun hopes there will be additional reasons for racing fans to remember his name.
“We’re hoping this race Friday will springboard him back into stakes and send him on his way,” said Calhoun. “We’ve always liked this horse a lot, and he seems to be back where he needs to be.”
Mr. Big News, with Adam Beschizza riding from post 3, continues on the comeback trail Friday at Churchill facing nine other older horses in a $134,000 second-level allowance going the Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles. It’s the featured ninth of 10 races on a card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.
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Mr. Big News, now 4, has raced just twice in the year that elapsed since his Derby third, finishing a distant seventh in the Preakness last October, then fourth of six returning last month in a one-turn-mile allowance at Colonial Downs in rural Virginia. That’s where Calhoun had his best horses stabled this summer while Churchill undertook its massive turf-course renovation.
“The Colonial race actually wasn’t all that disappointing,” said Calhoun. “The one-turn mile isn’t his deal. He’d had some minor issues over the winter, wasn’t quite right, and we got a lot later start with him this year than we’d planned on. The Colonial race was there, so I took it. He came out of it really well and he’s ready now. Obviously I like the distance of this race and I look for him to run really well.”
Among those opposing Mr. Big News in a competitive lineup are Beau Luminarie, a last-out runner-up in the Tri-State at Ellis Park; Colonelsdarktemper, a three-time winner here in the spring; Claytnthelionheart, second as the favorite at this same level at Saratoga last out; and Good Juju and Twenty Twice, both carrying two-race win streaks into this.
◗ Meanwhile, Calhoun said $2.3 million-earner By My Standards, his 5-year-old stable star, will make his next start in the Oct. 2 Woodward at Belmont Park in preparing for a possible run in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. By My Standards, a four-time graded winner, breezed a bullet five furlongs in 58.60 seconds last weekend at Churchill in his third work since finishing last of five in the Aug. 7 Whitney at Saratoga.
◗ One other allowance, a $127,000 first-level sprint (race 3) that drew six fillies and mares, also is part of a Friday program expected to be run under sunny skies and in mid-80s temperatures.