String King back in open company in Unbridled

BOSSIER CITY, La. – It is String King’s world, and Charlie Smith has just been living in it for the past five years. There’s nowhere else the 69-year-old horseman would rather be. Smith bred, owns, and trains the near millionaire, who will be seeking the 13th stakes win of his career Saturday in the $75,000 Unbridled at Louisiana Downs.

A 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, the Unbridled is one of six stakes supporting the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby. It also is the third leg of an all-stakes pick four that runs on races 8-11. The sequence will have a guaranteed pool of $100,000.

String King is the king of Smith’s two-horse stable and the current king of the Louisiana-breds. He will be returning to open company Saturday after winning back-to-back statebred stakes and faces eight others, including the multiple Grade 3 winner Potomac River and the stakes winners Alamo Heights and Warren’s Rebel. String King was the odds-on favorite in each of his last two races. He once again figures to be a short price over a course on which he is 6 for 14.

“This is a horse race,” Smith said. “You can’t take anything for granted. I just hope he runs his race. The betting public really supports him every time he goes to post.”

Unbridled (race 10)

Key contenders

String King (Last 3 Beyers: 87-86-86)

* He won the $75,000 Louisiana Cup Turf Classic at 3-5 on Aug. 8 in his most recent start. In a departure from his typical front-running style, he rallied from off the pace and was a four-length winner of the feature at Louisiana Downs.

“His race was good,” Smith said. “He just took himself back and came running late and catching everybody. I was a little concerned they really weren’t going that fast [early], and he was about six lengths off of it, but he just took himself back, and I had told [jockey Richard Eramia] just to ride him where he’s comfortable.”

* Eramia has the mount in the Unbridled, and String King will break from post 3.

“If nobody wants the lead, he’ll take it,” Smith said. “He’s comfortable a length or two back. He will dictate how he runs, and he generally finishes nicely.”

* String King has won at least one stakes every year he has raced, from age 3 through his current 7-year-old season. Highlights of his career include a win in the Grade 3 Col. E.R. Bradley Handicap in January at Fair Grounds and three runnings of the Louisiana Champions Day Turf here.

“He’s just a blessing,” Smith said of String King, who has won 17 of 37 starts overall and $935,552.

Potomac River (Last 3 Beyers: 86-84-76)

* He is making his first start over the Franks course at Louisiana Downs and is invading from Kentucky.

* Potomac River won the $75,000 Sunset at Evangeline Downs on July 25 in his most recent start.

River Cities (race 6)

Key contenders

Meeting Waters (Last 3 Beyers: 82-79-62)

* She seeks her first stakes win in the $75,000 River Cities, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares and the companion race to the Unbridled. Meeting Waters has been relocated to the Midwest from Southern California. She will be making her first start for trainer Brad Cox.

“We picked her up a couple of weeks ago with this race in mind,” Cox said. “I worked her once, and everything went well with the work.”

* Meeting Waters was second to Central Banker in the Luther Burbank Handicap at Santa Rosa on Aug. 2 in her last start. It was Central Banker’s fifth consecutive victory and 13th overall.

Welcome Aboard (Last 3 Beyers: 82-76-82)

* She closed from last to win the $75,000 Opelousas at Evangeline Downs on July 25 in her last start.

“She’s got a great run,” said trainer Eric Reed. “She ran a great race last time and is training really well for this race, too.”

* Welcome Aboard will break from post 3 under Edgar Prado.

“I think she’ll be sitting six or seven lengths back off the pace,” said Reed. “I’ll leave it up to Edgar when to push the button and say, ‘Go.’ ”