String King points to Turf Classic on Louisiana Cup card

String King is a gangster. Well, sort of.

The top-class Louisiana-bred turfer goes by “Floyd” around the barn in reference to a notorious bank robber.

“I used to call him pretty boy this and pretty boy that,” said Charlie Smith, who bred, owns, and trains String King. “He is pretty. But pretty boy didn’t quite fit his demeanor. He used to be so rank, so full of himself. He was a handful. Pretty Boy Floyd was a gangster back in the early ’30s or ’40s, so that’s how he got his nickname as Floyd.”

String King, now 6 and “not quite as full of himself,” will be one of the most popular horses on the Louisiana Cup program of eight restricted stakes next Saturday at Louisiana Downs. Smith said the horse is pointing for the $75,000 Turf Classic at 1 1/16 miles following his comeback win in an open-company allowance July 12. String King was making his first start since January in the one-mile turf race and was a half-length winner while covering a mile in 1:34.60. For the effort, he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.

“He came back pretty salty,” said Smith.

Smith said the decision was made to give String King a break back in January after his fourth-place finish in the Colonel Bradley at Fair Grounds. He said the horse had never had a real significant amount of down time, so he gave him two months of simply walking the shed row before resuming light training and building up to workouts. String King’s comeback win came under Pat Johnson, who is new to the Louisiana Downs meet and who will have the mount in the Turf Classic, said Smith.

String King has won 12 of 29 career starts and $625,652. He won last year’s Turf Classic and also during the Louisiana Downs meet was second by a neck in the Unbridled, a race on the Super Derby undercard he again might target when it is renewed Sept. 6, said Smith.

Prelude field taking shape

The $100,000 Prelude, the lone open-company stakes on the Louisiana Cup program next Saturday, had a working list of seven possible starters as of Thursday, according to Louisiana Downs racing secretary David Heitzmann. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds offers its winner a fees-paid berth into the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby.

Among those Heitzmann considers probable for the Prelude are Ide Be Cool, the undefeated Louisiana-bred who will be making his first start against open company; Louies Flower, who last year won the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park; Alamo Heights, the fourth-place finisher in the $75,000 English Channel at Gulfstream Park in his last start June 14; and Gold Appointment, winner of the $75,000 Crescent City Derby at Fair Grounds in March.

There will be a total of nine stakes on the card next Saturday.