Telekinesis sparkles in debut

NEW ORLEANS – Perhaps he can’t bend spoons with his mind, but the 3-year-old colt Telekinesis debuted last week at Fair Grounds like a horse with unusual talent.

Racing in the eighth race on Feb. 9, Telekinesis was kept three wide and in the clear by jockey Florent Geroux throughout a six-furlong maiden race, collaring favored Nola Win in midstretch and going on to a 3 1/4-length victory. Telekinesis ran six furlongs in 1:10.16, a time that produced a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. The number is one of only 18 Beyers of 90 or higher for a 3-year-old this year in North America, and it’s the second-highest figure earned by a 3-year-old during this Fair Grounds meet. Instilled Regard earned a 92 winning the Lecomte Stakes.

But it’s not just a numbers game with Telekinesis, who is a grand-looking colt by Ghostzapper out of the Street Cry mare Intentional Cry. Stonestreet Stables paid $470,000 to acquire the Ontario-bred colt as a weanling in 2015. Mark Casse was an underbidder at that auction, but wound up with Telekinesis in his barn anyway.

Telekinesis’s career debut twice was delayed. Last summer, he’d gotten up to working five furlongs when a relatively minor injury required a 30-day halt in training.

“He was the head of the class last summer,” Casse said. “We thought he was the best young horse we had.”

Back from his hiccup in good order, Telekinesis got as far as the Fair Grounds paddock when he was entered last month, but he acted up, rolled over, and wound up being scratched by track officials.

“He was fine,” Casse said. “He trained the next day. I was on my way to the Eclipse Awards. I was so looking forward to him running it put a damper on that for a little while.”

Telekinesis is bred like a route horse and has the body and stride of a route horse, and he is certain to make his next start in a route race, most likely a first-level allowance. It remains to be seen whether Telekinesis will even have a chance to progress quickly enough to get onto the Kentucky Derby trail.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible, but we’re just going to play it one day at a time,” Casse said.