Six Shooter targeting Smarty Jones

Six Shooter and jockey Tommy Pompell were gutsy winners of the $75,000 Big Drama on Saturday night at Delta Downs, slipping through a seam along the rail en route to a 1 1/4-length victory in the stakes for 3-year-olds.

“Tommy said I owed him riding boots – he scraped his on the rail,” joked Paul Holthus, who trains Six Shooter.

Holthus said Monday that Six Shooter is now a candidate for the $150,000 Smarty Jones for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn. The one-mile race will be run on the opening-day card Jan. 25.

Six Shooter won a stakes for the first time in the Big Drama. He traveled to Louisiana from his Oaklawn base in Arkansas.

“He came home the next day and came out of the race really good,” Holthus said. “The plan is to shoot for the Smarty Jones.”

Six Shooter earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 70 in the 7 1/2-furlong Big Drama.

“I thought he ran a really good race,” Holthus said. “Tommy Pompell gets a lot of the credit. [Six Shooter] ran a pretty big race, and Tommy rode a great race.”

Six Shooter is a son of Trappe Shot who has now won 3 of 7 starts, including an allowance in November at Churchill Downs. He races for Dundalk 5 LLC, N P H Stable, and Wes Herek.

Entries for the Smarty Jones will be drawn on Jan. 18, according to Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope.