That Tat looks best of Norman's trio

BOSSIER CITY, La. - One does not win eight training titles in a row without ammunition at all class levels, but one division that perennial champion trainer Cole Norman has excelled at in particular is that of top-shelf sprinters. Such is the case again on Saturday as Norman will send out three of the nine runners in the $75,000 Folklore Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs, including starting highweight That Tat.

The three Norman runners are uncoupled in the wagering.

That Tat, 8, has not raced since finishing eighth in the $100,000 Beck Auto Group Turf Sprint Handicap at Lone Star Park on May 29. His other races this year include a solid fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Handicap at Oaklawn Park in April and a win in the Hot Springs Stakes over that same oval in March. That Tat earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure in the Hot Springs and a repeat of that performance would likely do the job Saturday. That Tat is a four-time winner at Louisiana Downs and finished a close second in this race last year. Tracy Hebert will ride.

Norman's other representatives are Top Commander and Random Gold, and both are coming into Saturday's race off a freshening.

Top Commander has been out only twice this year, once in the Kenner Breeders' Cup during the Fair Grounds meeting at Louisiana Downs in January and most recently in the King Cotton Stakes at Oaklawn in February. Both of those efforts were dull, but Top Commander, a 6-year-old Kingmambo gelding, has been training steadily for his return and will have the services of leading rider Carlos Gonzalez, who has been riding first call for Norman.

Random Gold has finished no worse than second dating back to last fall, and this season has won twice from five starts. His most recent start was in the King's Court here on June 3 when he finished second as the 11-10 favorite to the talented Venomous, whom he will face again on Saturday. Jamie Theriot has the call.

Venomous showed in the King's Court that he will be a force in this region. He has won five of his 11 starts.