Sumfun, Datrick meet again in sprint

Sumfun and Datrick will each be making a meaningful change Sunday when they meet in the $55,000 Lea County Sprint at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M. Sumfun will be cutting back to one turn in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds, while Datrick will be returning to dirt, the surface on which he scored the biggest win of his career. The colts are part of a five-horse field that includes recent Churchill Downs allowance winner Mr. Nightlinger.

Sumfun could go favored. He tried two turns for the first time last out and finished second by a half-length in a one-mile allowance at Remington Park. Prior to that start, he won the $45,000 Harvest Handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs at Albuquerque on Sept. 1.

"It was a very good race," Bret Calhoun, who trains Sumfun for Carl Moore Management, said of the Harvest.

The win was Sumfun's third at a sprint distance, and he earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96. For the Lea County, he will break from post 3 under Casey Lambert.

"He's a fast horse," Calhoun said of Sumfun. "I would think he'd be forwardly placed."

Datrick, who finished second in the Harvest, flattered Sumfun one race later when he won the $45,000 Watson McManus, a five-furlong turf race at Retama Park on Oct. 13. Now he moves back to the surface of his win in the Grade 3 Kentucky Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs in 2006.

Alfredo Juarez Jr. has the mount on Datrick, who is trained by Steve Asmussen. Datrick leads the field in earnings with $250,529.