Will Rogers Downs: Versatility gives edge to My Star Runner

My Star Runner and Gold Coyote are among the 13 sprinters who flooded the entry box for the $50,000 Clem McSpadden at Will Rogers Downs. The six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up is one of two sprint stakes on the card. The $50,000 Wilma Mankiller for fillies and mares drew last-out stakes winners Tin Top Cat and Miss Natalie.

My Star Runner is developing into a dangerous sprinter. He has blazing speed and has used it to blitz his rivals on several occasions. But two starts ago, My Star Runner showed a new dimension while winning the $100,000 Louisiana Premiere Night Sprint at Delta Downs in February.

“Miguel Mena took him off the pace,” trainer Cody Autrey said. “He’s just been better looking at horses, settling behind horses.”

My Star Runner set a track record in the Delta race, covering five furlongs in 57 seconds. He has the speed to show the way under Lindey Wade on Saturday, but his newfound tractability might serve him well against Gold Coyote.

Gold Coyote was a wire-to-wire allowance winner at Sam Houston in his last start Feb. 26. The race was his second since Dec. 5, 2009; in his comeback, he was sixth in the $50,000 Spirit of Texas for statebreds in January.

“The horse is doing great,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “His first race back, it looked to me like he needed to knock the rust off. He’s been a different animal ever since the first race. He seems like he’s back to his old self.”