One King's Man heads classy field in Champion's Day Classic

Just five horses contested the 2014 Louisiana Champions Day Classic, and the eight-runner 2013 Classic lacked depth, but this year’s edition of the richest race on Louisiana Champions Day lured nine entrants, with high-quality horses at the top. Mobile Bay won the Super Derby and Zia Park Derby this year, and fellow 3-year-old The Pickett Factor might match him for raw talent. Yet it’s 5-year-old One King’s Man with all the upside coming into the $150,000 Classic.

One King’s Man was razor sharp a year ago when his third-place finish in the Classic was troubled enough that Fair Grounds stewards elevated him to second. One King’s Man was given a summer break and made his first start since May 1 in the Gold Cup on Nov. 14 at Delta Downs, where he was checked at the quarter pole, costing him a win chance, though he plugged away to finish third.

“We gave him time off to freshen him for these races, and he’s come back as good as he was last year,” said Joe Sharp, who trains One King’s Man for Ken and Sarah Ramsey. He called the Delta comeback “the perfect prep” for Saturday.

The horses in the Classic rarely run the race’s 1 1/8 miles, but Sharp believes the trip benefits One King’s Man, whose sire, K One King, won the Grade 1, nine-furlong Oaklawn Handicap.

“The farther the better for him,” said Sharp.

One King’s Man’s connections are taking the race seriously enough that they entered the speedy Know You Now as a rabbit.

A quick tempo could help Mobile Bay, though his two biggest wins, the Super Derby and Zia Park Derby, came from behind slow fractions. Mobile Bay, ridden by Edgar Prado, appears to be an iron horse who can’t get too much racing. He already has made 12 starts this year and runs Saturday less than three weeks after shipping to Zia Park in New Mexico, where he scored a hard-fought win.

“This horse is an extremely good shipper, the sleeping-est horse I’ve ever trained, though he’s all business out of the stall,” said trainer Victor Arceneaux. “I didn’t notice any difference when he came back from New Mexico.”

Arceneaux elected to gallop Mobile Bay into the Classic without a timed workout. The colt, a steady, lumbering type by Lone Star Special, has proven he stays 1 1/8 miles.

The same can’t be said of The Pickett Factor, who handled Mobile Bay in the Super Derby prep, the Prelude Stakes, but faded to fourth in the Super Derby, his only try beyond 1 1/16 miles. By Gold Tribute, The Pickett Factor is out of a Dynaformer mare and has enough stamina in his pedigree to suggest he might yet be effective at nine furlongs.

“He was somewhat out of his element that day the way the race shaped up, but distance is a concern,” said trainer Ralph Irwin. “I’m thinking about that with quality horses.”

The Pickett Factor exits a blowout win in the Gold Cup at Delta, and though that race was contested at one mile, he finished full of run and galloped out with aplomb. The Pickett Factor has ample speed but probably will rate behind at least Know You Now.

The other five in the race all have their work cut out for them, especially the front-end types. Stormdriver rates the best chance among the longer prices.

The Classic is the 10th of 13 races, with post time at 4:52 p.m. Central. The weather forecast suggests the turf will be firm and the dirt fast for a card that begins at 12:30 p.m. with three Quarter Horse stakes. The program’s Thoroughbred portion includes seven stakes, with String King the big name outside the Classic. But while String King is a solid favorite in the Turf, the morning-line choice Heitai looks vulnerable going six furlongs in the Sprint. The Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies both have expansive, bet-able fields. Wind Chill Factor is one of the day’s more attractive price plays in the Ladies Sprint, the stakes finale.