Saint's Fan an all-Stewart production

Dallas Stewart, horse trainer, is a designation with which even casual racing fans would be familiar. Dallas Stewart, horse breeder and horse owner – not so much.

But Stewart is getting the full-spectrum experience this fall and winter with the talented 2-year-old Saint’s Fan, a colt he bred, owns, and trains and who can really run.

Saint’s Fan debuted at Churchill with a decisive maiden special weight sprint win and followed up by winning the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile last Saturday at Fair Grounds. Like he had in his debut, Saint’s Fan lagged well off the early pace before coming with a sustained and successful rally. He won by two lengths Saturday, and his six-furlong time of 1:10.74 produced a Beyer Speed Figure of 80, the same as his debut.

“I liked what I saw in the race,” Stewart said. “He had one horse beat down the backstretch. He acts like a very nice horse. Hopefully, his next start will be in the Lecomte.”

The Grade 3 Lecomte, the first 3-year-old stakes on the road to the $1 million Louisiana Derby, is on Jan. 21. It will mark Saint’s Fan’s first try around two turns, but Stewart said he’s looking forward to seeing his horse in a route.

And his horse it really is. Stewart was a partner on Saint’s Fan’s dam, Boy Crazy, but wound up owning her entirely and decided “just for the hell of it” to try his hand at breeding. Boy Crazy’s first foal, Nola Girl, was a decent racehorse, and her third foal, by Tale of Ekati, is Saint’s Fan. Charles Fipke, for whom Stewart trains, owns Tale of Ekati.

“I don’t know anything about breeding as far as nicking them, but I know Tale of Ekati gets a nice-looking horse,” Stewart said. “I paid for it, but Chuck gave me a good deal on the breeding.”

Meanwhile, Stewart and Fipke’s best horse, Unbridled Forever, underwent surgery in Kentucky on Tuesday to remove a bone chip from her left-front ankle. The third-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, she remains on track for a 2017 campaign, Stewart said, but will need 45 to 60 days of rehab before she can get back to training.