Perfect Pickett tries two turns in Jean Lafitte

Pickett will put a perfect race record on the line Saturday night when he makes his two-turn debut in the $50,000 Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs.

The race for 2-year-olds will share a card with the $100,000 Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up bred in Louisiana.

The Jean Lafitte drew a field of 10, including Shotsoft, winner of the $75,000 El Joven at a mile Sept. 4 at Retama Park; and Ninth Street, a sharp maiden special weight winner Sept. 7 at Remington Park.

Pickett is 2 for 2, becoming the first winner for stallion Goldencents when he romped by 6 1/2 lengths in a maiden special weight May 30 at Evangeline Downs. Pickett then won a $75,000 division of the D.S. “Shine” Young at the same track July 14. He had his first work since the race Sept. 1.

“We decided to give this colt some time,” said Glenn Delahoussaye, who trains Pickett for Charles Carlton. “I looked at what was out on the landscape race-wise, and there wasn’t anything that excited me, nothing that gave me a reason to pursue keeping him in competition.

“We wanted to attack the Louisiana-bred program coming up in the fall and spring. We wanted to be bigger, stronger, and to do that we gave him a break. He probably put on 200 pounds of good muscle and flesh.”

Delahoussaye is looking forward to Saturday.

“The race gives me an opportunity to learn something about him, see if he can handle the two turns,” he said. “He’ll handle the distance – seven furlongs is just a long sprint – but they all have to answer the question around two turns. I’ve worked him around two turns, but working and running are two different things.

“This race will tell us what we need to know. Do we want to pursue two-turn races, or back up to one-turn sprints?”

Pickett’s natural speed will serve him well as he breaks from post 10 under regular rider Timothy Thornton. The horse, based at Copper Crowne training center in Opelousas, La., has had a chance to work over the Delta surface. Pickett went a half-mile in 48.60 seconds from the gate – fourth-fastest move of 100 at the distance – on Oct. 12.

“That track is a very testing surface,” Delahoussaye said. “We wanted him to get a good work over it.”

◗ Underpressure might have to run down Sir Genghis to win the Gold Cup, a mile race that figures to produce starters for the Louisiana Champions Day program at Fair Grounds. Sir Genghis is moving back to two turns after setting the pace and finishing third by a half-length in a one-turn mile Sept. 14 at Churchill. Underpressure is back with statebreds off a runner-up finish in the $50,000 John Bullit at Canterbury.