Reigning Court rested for Budweiser

A chance to catch his breath may be all Reigning Court needed. The 4-year-old gelding, freshened a bit after a disappointing run in the slop at Fair Grounds on Christmas Eve, returns to head Saturday's $50,000 Budweiser Handicap at Sunland Park. The five-furlong event for 3-year-olds and up lured a field of eight.

Owned by Philip and Brenda Robertson and trained by Steve Asmussen, Reigning Court comes here a proven commodity. A son of Glitterman with a 4-for-13 record, Reigning Court boasts among those wins a victory in the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Sprint at Turfway Park last September.

After the Fair Grounds race, Asmussen opted to regroup and shipped Reigning Court here. Casey Lambert rides the 123-pound highweight.

But Reigning Court better be ready off the bench. Sweepingly, owned by C. David Pleasant and trained by Chris Hartman, is capable of huge efforts when on his game, and he looks on it right now. The 8-year-old gelding comes off a smashing optional claiming win here Jan. 23 where he drew off to win by 3 1/4 lengths while seemingly well in hand. The 94 Beyer was impressive, but not his best - he earned a 103 at Remington last summer. Ken Tohill rides.

Blaze It is a scary invader from Southern California. The Sal Gonzalez trainee hasn't run since last May, but he has worked strongly for this. Miguel Perez rides.