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Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Trainer Brad Cox has 11 colts nominated to the Louisiana Derby, a key stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby, and will start sorting the contenders from the pretenders in Saturday's Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds. The Lecomte is the marquee feature on a program that also includes the Silverbulletday Stakes for potential Kentucky Oaks contenders, the Louisiana Stakes for older horses -- and a forecast for significant rain that could affect everyone's plans.
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Turfway Park in northern Kentucky and Laurel Park in Maryland also have 3-year-old stakes while Aqueduct and Oaklawn Park also are in on the action.
On the world stage, the third meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival features the Godolphin-heavy Group 2 Zabeel Mile on the turf and the UAE 1000 Guineas at 7 furlongs on the dirt.
Also, not only is Flightline officially the "World's Best Racehorse" of 2022, but his final victory, the Breeders' Cup Classic, has been named the best race of the year. Details in News and Notes. Gee, wonder who will get the "Horse of the Year" Eclipse Award next week.
The Road to the Roses
Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club winner Instant Coffee heads a field of eight for Saturday's $200,000 Grade III Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, a "Road to the Kentucky Derby" points race. The winner gets 20 points with 8, 4, 6 and 2 for the minor placings.
Instant Coffee, a Bolt d'Oro colt, is at or near the top -- it's hard to sort through so many -- of the classy 3-year-olds in Brad Cox's barn. He won at first asking last summer at Saratoga, finished fourth in the Grade I Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and won the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.
He's the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the Lecomte and his first start as a 3-year-old will start the winnowing.
Cox also has Tapit's Conquest set for the Lecomte. The Tapit colt had a close second at Saratoga in his 2-year-old debut, then won easily at Churchill Downs on Oct. 1 when stretched to 1 1/16 miles. He's cross-entered in a Saturday allowance race and Cox said a decision will come close to race day.
Among the others, Two Phil's needs to improve slightly to contend for the win but it's worth noting the Larry Rivelli trainee comes off a victory in the Grade III Street Sense at Churchill Downs. That was run on a sloppy track and a rainy Saturday is forecast for the Big Easy.
While Cox is optimistic, he's also realistic about the difficulty of getting a top contender into the Churchill Downs starting gate on the first Saturday in May.
"Right now we are very fortunate to be in a great position with a lot of these colts," Cox said, looking forward to the Lecomte.
"We are in a good position but I'm not excited yet. I don't think you can be. You've got to stay grounded and focus on them so you can come up with individual plans for each of them. Then hopefully they can take you where you want to go."
Also on the Kentucky Derby scene:
Hayes Strike strikes out on an all-weather surface for the first time in Saturday's $125,000 Leonatus Stakes at Turfway Park near Cincinnati.
The Connect colt has been knocking on the door: Fourth in the Grade III Iroquois, second in the Grade III Street Sense and third in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club, all at Churchill Downs, then fourth in a classy Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds, where he's training with Kenny McPeek. For all of that, a win would be his first since the maiden score at Ellis Park in August.
Hayes Strike might recognize the opponent lining up to his outside for the Leonatus -- Raise Cain, the 24-1 long shot runner-up in the Gun Runner. And never count out trainer Wesley Ward at Turfway. He has Funtastic Again, a winner last time out over the strip.
Coffeewithchris and Prince of Jericho, first and second in the Dec. 20 Heft Stakes, top a mostly-locals list of eight for Saturday's $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Laurel Park. The race is 7 furlongs, and progress would be needed to stir hopes for the Kentucky Derby or, more likely, the Preakness Stakes.
Meanwhile ... Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager is open Friday thorough Sunday with Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Forte the 10-1 individual betting favorite, behind only the perennial odds-topping "All Other 3-year-old Colts and Geldings."
That despite the fact that Forte hasn't yet started formal training for his 3-year-old campaign. Win and exacta wagering will open at noon EST Friday and close at 6 p.m. Sunday. Remember, while the odds are attractive, there are no refunds.
Forte, by the way, is expected to log his first timed workout "in a week or so," Bloodhorse's Bob Ehalt quotes trainer Todd Pletcher. His tentative return date is the Grade II Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on March 4.
The Path to the Oaks
Before Cox gets to the Lecomte, he has two of the seven entries in Saturday's $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds and both will be well-backed despite question marks.
Chop Chop, by City of Light, won her first two starts, both on turf, then was second, beaten a nose by division leader Wonder Wheel, in the Grade I Alcibiades at Keeneland.
However, she then finished last in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, albeit with a wide trip. She's the 8-5 favorite on the morning line.
Cox's other filly, Alys Look, by Connect, took three tries to win, scoring in her first Fair Grounds start Dec. 1, then was second in the Untapable Stakes over the same course.
Among the rivals, Forest Chimes enters off a victory in her first start -- a 7 1/2-lengths score over a "good" track -- and is the 3-1 second choice on the line.
Saturday's $100,000 Xtra Heat Stakes at Laurel Park is a 6-furlongs sprint and the field of six includes mostly maiden winners. The exception is Chickieness, a Blofeld filly who won the Maryland Million Lassie last year and has three wins and three seconds from eight starts.
Classic / Dirt Mile
Zozos, 10th in last year's Kentucky Derby, makes his 4-year-old debut for the aforementioned Brad Cox in Saturday's $150,000 Grade III Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds.
The Munnings colt took seven months off after the Derby experience and returned with an easy win in an optional claimer going 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds Dec. 17.
Bret Calhoun has Run Classic, who returns home from a close fourth-place finish in the $200,000 Tinsel Stakes at Oaklawn Park last month.
The field for this also includes the first four finishers from the Dec. 16 Tenacious Stakes -- Happy American, Mr. Wireless and Forza Di Oro.
Filly & Mare Turf
Trainer Chris Block finally got Charlie's Penny into a race at turf-challenged Fair Grounds only to run into a tough bunch in Saturday's $100,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial Stakes.
The New Orleans track has been opening the grass course to competition cautiously after experiencing problems with the surface, and Charlie's Penny, a 5-year-old Race Day mare who won the 2021 Silverbulletday over the Fair Grounds dirt, has found herself on the "also eligible" list for earlier stakes.
Saturday's opponents include Wave of Goodness and Lake Lucerne, second and third in the recent Blushing K D. Ironically, with rain in the forecast, the odds are the race won't be on the grass after all.
Turf
Saturday's $100,000 Col E.R. Bradley Stakes at Fair Grounds also looks to be a candidate for "off the turf" status. Pending that determination and any resulting scratches, the field is replete with talent.
That includes last year's Grade II Muniz Memorial winner Two Emmys, Diliberto Memorial second and third English Tavern and Big Agenda, and Ready to Purrform, winner of last year's Grade II Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga who returns from a three-month layoff. There are several also-eligibles ready to take the place of defectors.
Turf Sprint
Saturday's $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Stakes at Fair Grounds is another race slated for the grass but you'd have to think the trainers of some of the top prospects -- Manny Wah and also-eligibles Surveillance and Bango -- are hoping for a surface switch.
Manny Wah has been struggling, but is a former Breeders' Cup contender. Surveillance and Bango have been running their tails off in dirt sprints. My Pal Mattie, the first also-eligible, has two straight allowance wins on the Remington Park green.
Filly & Mare Sprint
Betsy Blue exits a victory in the Garland of Roses on Dec. 10, likely to top a field of six for Saturday's $100,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct. Piece of My Heart, a consistent allowance type, makes her stakes debut.
Sarah Harper and Hot and Sultry are the morning-line favorites among six entered for Saturday's $150,000 American Beauty Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
Sarah Harper, a 5-year-old Vancouver mare, was second in the Poinsettia Stakes on Dec. 12 in her last start. Hot and Sultry, a 4-year-old by Speightster, has two wins and two seconds from four starts.
Around the world, around the clock
Dubai
Five of the eight entries in Friday's Group 2 Zabeel Mile are Godolphin runners and one of the others can fly. Well, not literally.
But the aptly named I Am Superman has logged some serious frequent flyer miles for Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan. The 7-year-old Footprintsinthesand gelding has won both in Ireland and in Australia and, most recently, reported second in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield last September.
"We're delighted with I Am Superman since arriving in Dubai," O'Callaghan said. "He's in really good form ahead of Friday and Colin Keane is over to ride both him and Fastnet Crown [in the night's turf sprint finale]."
Trainers Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor share the Godolphin herd in the Zabeel with Appleby saddling Modern News and Master of the Seas and bin Suroor in charge of Desert Fire, Land of Legends and Laser Show.
Appleby hopes for a good start on the season for Master of the Seas, a lightly raced, 5-year-old Dubawi gelding who was second in the 2021 Qipco 2000 Guineas and won his only start in 2022.
"Master Of The Seas has settled in well in Dubai, but we are very much working back from Dubai World Cup night and Super Saturday," Appleby said. "There will be some natural improvement from whatever he does here. Modern News goes into this fit and certainly won't look out of place in the field."
Seven fillies are entered for the secondary feature, the UAE 1000 Guineas at 1,600 meters on the dirt. Mimi Kakushi, a Kentucky-bred City of Light filly, returns from a victory in the Guineas Trial. The second- and third-place fillies from that, Asawer and Awasef, both trained by Doug Watson, are back for more.
"I'm happy with Mimi Kakushi, even with the extra furlong from her last race," trainer Salem Bin Ghadayer said.
Cite D'Or is in from England with hopes beyond the Guineas.
"She travelled out to Meydan on Dec. 29," majority owner Nick Bradley said. "She's done everything right to date but the dirt is an unknown. She'll go from here to the UAE Oaks, which has been her target since November."
News and Notes
Not only was Flightline confirmed as the 2022 Longines World's Best Racehorse in ceremonies Tuesday in London but his final start, the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, was named the year's Longines World's Best Horse Race.
Flightline was rated 140 by the handicapping panel, a mark achieved only once before under the current system, that by Frankel in 2012. Previously, the highest rating given to a dirt horse was the 135 assigned Cigar in 1996.
The 140 was assigned for Flightline's 19 1/4-lengths romp in the Grade I Pacific Classic, a race in which Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer was second.
The Breeders' Cup Classic garnered top-race honor based on the average rating of the first four finishers -- Flightline, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Olympiad, Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba and Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike.
Baaeed was second-ranked at 135, based on his performance in the Juddmonte International Stakes. That number makes him the world's top turf horse.
Japan's Eqinox and Australian sprinter Nature Strip share the No. 3 position with 126 ratings. Epicenter, Life Is Good and Vadini were knotted at 125.
Golden Sixty, Kyprios, Olympiad, Pyledriver, Real World, Romantic Warrior, Titleholder and Torquator Tasso all were rated 124.
