Sam Houston: Hard to look past Heitai in Sprint Cup

Heitai brings an explosive record into Saturday night’s $50,000 Sam Houston Sprint Cup. He has won four of his last five starts by a combined margin of 33 1/2 lengths, and for each of those victories earned a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure.

The six-furlong Sprint Cup drew a field of six, including Heitai’s stablemate Triumph and Song, who won the recent Bucharest Stakes.

But the horse to beat is Heitai, who enters off a track-record performance in the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Sprint at Delta Downs on Feb. 1. He covered five furlongs in 56.69 seconds, leading every step for a five-length win under regular rider Diego Saenz.

“We’re excited to test him against open company,” said Karl Broberg, who trains Heitai for Rowell Enterprises.

Heitai’s first start for Broberg came in November, when he won an optional $15,000 claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs at Delta by more than 18 lengths. The score came in his first start following a six-month layoff and was worth a Beyer Speed Figure of 106.

“As fast horses go, he’s as fast as they come,” Broberg said. “I’ve never had anything like him before.”

Heitai’s double-digit win came at two turns, and Broberg ran him back at the trip one start later. But after a seventh-place finish in the Sam’s Town at Delta he decided to keep the horse at one turn. Heitai has responded with three straight stakes wins.

The upswing in form can be attributed to a couple of different factors.

“Obviously the cutback in distance has been huge,” Broberg said. “It looks like he’s matured some, and I also think they [gelded] him during the break before we got him. Maybe that was a big factor.”

Heitai will break from post 2, under Saez.

Triumph and Song gets back to dirt following a 2 1/2-length win in the Bucharest on Feb. 8.

“We were excited to see him pass the turf test in what was his first out on the grass,” said Broberg.