String King freshened ahead of Muniz Memorial

NEW ORLEANS – After the classy Louisiana-bred String King became a graded stakes winner with a victory Jan. 17 in the Grade 3 Colonel E. R. Bradley Handicap, trainer-owner-breeder Charles Smith decided the gelding would benefit from a freshening.

After racing three times in 55 days, String King didn’t race five weeks later in the Fair Grounds Handicap, the final prep for the Mervin Muniz Memorial Handicap on March 28. The $300,000, Grade 2 Muniz is the meet’s most significant turf race for older horses, and Smith intends to have String King primed for it.

“My only worry is if he’s going to be fit enough,” Smith said Tuesday from his base at the River Point training center near Louisiana Downs. “I don’t think he’s lost that much since he last raced.”

Because of recent freezing weather, sleet, and icy track conditions, String King exercised less rigorously than Smith anticipated. Smith said he wasn’t about to risk taking String King to the track, so for six consecutive days, he walked in the shed row.

“This weather-induced freshening is what I call it,” Smith said.

But Smith said he expects the weather to break, and he should be able to work String King a few times before the Muniz. Workouts at the training center aren’t published, and under Louisiana racing rules, he’ll need a published workout within 60 days of the race. So Smith said String King’s final preparation for the race will take place at Fair Grounds, where he’ll have his final prerace workout March 21 or 22.

“He’ll do good if I can do my part,” Smith said. “I know he’ll do his.”

At age 7, String King will be making his second run at the Muniz. He finished third in the race in 2013. His 15 career victories in 34 starts include 10 stakes wins, and he has earned $818,552. He ranks 15th on the all-time Louisiana-bred earnings list.

The Muniz distance is about 1 1/8 miles, a half-furlong farther than the Bradley.

“I’m not worried about that,” Smith said. “The bottom side of him, the mare, has Epsom Derby [through Empery] and Arc de Triomphe [through Vaguely Noble]. I think he’ll be better the farther they go.”