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Call Me Midnight Flies Late, Nails Epicenter At The Line For 28-1 Upset In Lecomte

Peter Cantrell's Call Me Midnight sprang a 28-1 upset in Saturday's Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes, flying from the back of the pack to nip pacesetter Epicenter (8-5) by a nose on the wire. The 3-year-old son of Midnight Lute, ridden by James Graham for trainer Keith Desormeaux, completed 1 1/16 miles over the Fair Grounds' fast main track in 1:44.36. The victory earned Call Me Midnight 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Call Me Midnight broke his maiden in his fifth career start with a last-to-first run at Churchill Downs on Nov. 13, but ran poorly next out when seventh in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 27.

“I convinced myself the wrong way to run him back quickly in Louisville,” Desormeaux said. “I wanted to give him another start over the track, but it was ill-conceived… What gives you confidence is the horse's confidence. He was exuding thusly today. He was very calm in the paddock.”

Last-out winner of the Gun Runner Stakes at the Fair Grounds, Epicenter broke sharply and demanded the lead under jockey Joel Rosario. Initially pressed by Surfer Dude through a quarter in 23.40 seconds, Epicenter pulled away to lead by a length and cover the first half in :47.01. Blue Kentucky was up close early, and race-favorite (3-2) Pappacap, last-out second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, moved up the inside to fourth down the backstretch.

Meanwhile, Call Me Midnight was content to trail from second-last early under Graham. He began picking up rivals around the far turn, and Graham decided on the overland route while maintaining momentum on the outside of his rivals.

Pappacap made his way up the rail to encroach on Epicenter's lead at the head of the lane, but Epicenter never allowed himself to be passed on the inside. However, Call Me Midnight and Graham were in the midst of a huge rally down the center of the racetrack and were just able to catch Epicenter in the final strides.

At the finish it was Call Me Midnight by a nose over Epicenter, with Pappacap just a half-length back in third. Trafalgar finished fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Hartwell Farm, Call Me Midnight is out of the unraced First Defence mare Overseen. As a weanling, the colt brought a final bid of $25,000 from Milton Lopez at Keeneland November. Unsold for $37,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale, Call Me Midnight returned to the sales ring at OBS October and brought $17,000 from Team Work Horseman Group. Desormeaux selected the colt for Cantrell the next March at OBS, paying $80,000 for the Navas Equine-consignee.

With two wins from seven starts, Call Me Midnight has earned just over $220,000. It was also the first graded stakes win for Cantrell.

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Call Me Midnight ‘Nose’ Way Home in Lecomte

Let go at 28-1 and apparently overmatched on paper, the well-tried Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute) stormed down the center of the long Fair Grounds stretch to just nose out narrow second choice Epicenter (Not This Time) in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S., the first of three local preps on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

A maiden winner at fifth asking going Churchill's one-turn mile last Nov. 13, the $80,000 OBS March grad raced well back in the field as Surfer Dude (Curlin) and last-out Gun Runner S. hero Epicenter ding-donged it up front through taxing opening fractions of :23.40 and :47.01. Favored Pappacap (Gun Runner), a latest runner-up to 'TDN Rising Star' Corniche (Quality Road) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, sat a good inside trip and was there at the fence to challenge Epicenter in the stretch as Surfer Dude decided to call it a day and hang ten elsewhere. Trafalgar (Lord Nelson) loomed a brief threat inside, but Call Me Midnight, third last to make the straight, motored down the crown of the track and dropped his nose down on the line in the nick of time.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux was the architect of one of the bigger upsets on the NOLA road to Louisville, as he sent out Ive Struck a Nerve (Yankee Gentleman) to a 135-1 upset of the 2013 GII Risen Star S., the horse having finished a distant fourth in the Lecomte one start prior.

Well-beaten in his first two trips to the post over abbreviated trips, Call Me Midnight was an improved fourth, a nose behind future GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile placegetter Giant Game (Giant's Causeway) in a seven-furlong maiden in Louisville Sept. 18. Three lengths behind that rival when runner-up in a two-turn test at Keeneland Oct. 9, he was impressive in graduating over the mile Nov. 13, but could not overcome the widest gate in a field of 11 and checked in seventh in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. a couple of weeks later.

Pedigree Notes:

Call Me Midnight is the 37th stakes winner and 14th graded winner and also hails from a Juddmonte female family. The St. Patrick's Day foal's unraced dam is a daughter of SW & G1SP Jibe, whose daughter Silk Route (Empire Maker) is the dak of the aforementioned late MSW 'TDN Rising Star' Taraz (Into Mischief). His third dam is Slightly Dangerous, a Group 3 winner and second home in the 1982 G1 Epsom Oaks before embarking on a prolific career as a broodmare. Her notable produce include multiple champion and MG1SW Warning (GB) (Known Fact); MGSW & MG1SP Dushyantor (Sadler's Wells), third in the 1998 GI Breeders' Cup Turf; Yashmak (Danzig), winner at home of the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot and Group 1 placed at two and three and victorious in the GI Flower Bowl Invitational H. in this country. The latter's five winners include G1 Grand Criterium S. scorer Full Mast (Mizzen Mast).

Overseen missed to Honor Code for 2021 and was most recently covered by Frosted.

Saturday, Fair Grounds
LECOMTE S.-GIII, $200,000, Fair Grounds, 1-22, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.36, ft.
1–CALL ME MIDNIGHT, 122, c, 3, by Midnight Lute
               1st Dam: Overseen, by First Defence
               2nd Dam: Jibe, by Danzig
               3rd Dam: Slightly Dangerous, by Roberto
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($25,000
Wlg '19 KEENOV; $37,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP; $17,000 Ylg
'20 OBSOCT; $80,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-Peter L. Cantrell;
B-Hartwell Farm, Inc (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux; J-James
Graham. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 7-2-1-0, $221,806.
Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree.
2–Epicenter, 122, c, 3, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy
Ride (Arg). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($260,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Westwind Farms
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $40,000.
3–Pappacap, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat
Daddy. O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL); T-Mark E. Casse.
$20,000.
Margins: HD, 3/4, 3HF. Odds: 28.50, 1.60, 1.50.
Also Ran: Trafalgar, Presidential, Cyberknife, Blue Kentucky, Unified Report, Surfer Dude.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Half To Clairiere, La Crete Re-Rallies To Win Silverbulletday

The half-sister to Clairiere out of top racemare Cavorting, Stonestreet homebred La Crete proved her mettle on the track this Saturday afternoon. The 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro set the pace in the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at the Fair Grounds, but was passed in the stretch by Fannie and Freddie (3-1). Jockey Joel Rosario refused to give up aboard La Crete, driving her to the finish until she re-rallied in the shadow of the wire to score a one-length victory. The even-money favorite, La Crete completed a mile and 70 yards over the fast main track in 1:43.93 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

It was the third win on the card for Rosario and Asmussen. La Crete earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with her victory.

La Crete was not the quickest out of the gate, but she picked up the pace heading into the clubhouse turn and took command before the first quarter mile. Rosario kept her pace measured through fractions of 24.50 and 48.79 seconds, leading Fannie and Freddie by two lengths up the backstretch.

Fannie and Freddie ranged up alongside La Crete around the far turn, and the two raced head-and-head at the top of the stretch. The pair drifted out to the center of the track as they battled toward the wire, and Fannie and Freddie got her neck in front nearing the eighth pole.

Rosario switched his stick from left-to-right for one reminder, then went right back to his left hand to encourage the royally-bred La Crete to dig in. La Crete responded willingly and burst away from her rival in the final strides, crossing the wire a length in front of Fannie and Freddie. It was several lengths back to Bernabreezy in third, and Candy Raid rounded out the superfecta.

Bred in Kentucky by her owner, La Crete is out of the three time Grade 1-winning Bernardini mare Cavorting, who earned over $2 million on the track for Stonestreet. La Crete's half-sister, Clairiere (Curlin) earned over $1.2 million with the G1 Cotillion her biggest score.

La Crete won on debut at Churchill Downs in November, and remains undefeated after her Silverbulletday victory. Her two-for-two record has compiled earnings of $159,460.

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First U.S. Runner for El Kabeir A ‘Rising Star’

Peter Brant's Salimah (Ire) (El Kabeir), the first American starter for her Yeomanstown Stud-based sire and former 'TDN Rising Star', matched that feat with a highly impressive debut success Saturday afternoon at Tampa Bay Downs.

As skinny as 4-5 in the latter stages of the wagering, the Peter Brant runner eased out all the way to 7-5 and was 13-10 when the gates flew. Off to a hesitant beginning beneath Samy Camacho, Salimah was allowed to find a rhythm and raced with just two of her rivals behind her as they hit the first turn. Quietly ridden through the middle stages and guided out into the clear, the filly–a gray like her sire–was consigned to a four- and five-wide run on the turn and was flushed out into the seven or eight path at the top of the lane. But continuing on undaunted, Salimah leveled off beautifully down the center of the course, hit the front under a full head of steam at the furlong grounds and widened with every stride to score by a good five lengths in a time that belies the strength of the peformance.

Bred by Yeomanstown Stud out of the stakes-winning Promised Money, a mare by the nursery's stalwart stallion Dark Angel (Ire), Salimah–a half-sister to the Group 3-placed Fivethousandtoone (Ire) (Frankel {GB})–cost Brant and company 180,000gns at the 2020 Tattersalls October Yearlings Sale, easily the most expensive of 60 first-crop yearlings by El Kabeir that season. A half-sister to SW Beldale Memory (Ire) (Camacho {GB), Promised Money is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by the outstanding Lope de Vega (Ire) and a yearling filly by Invincible Army (Ire).

El Kabeir cost Zayat Stables co-salestopping $250,000 at the 2013 OBS August Yearling Sale and earned his 'Rising Star' when hosing up by 10 3/4 lengths at second asking at Saratoga in 2014. He closed his freshman campaign with a game success in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. and celebrated the turn of the calendar with a 4 3/4-length romp in the GIII Jerome S. at Aqueduct. He added a convincing score in the GIII Gotham S. and was also a good third to Frosted in the 2015 GI Wood Memorial S. His first crop to the races has now yielded 18 winners in nine jurisdictions, including Group 2 scorer Don Chicco (GB) and other stakes winner Masekela (Ire) and Sa Filonzana (Ire). El Kabeir is standing his fifth year at stud for a fee of €6,000.

10th-Tampa Bay Downs, $25,150, Msw, 1-22, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:38.52, fm, 4 3/4 lengths.
SALIMAH (IRE) (f, 3, El Kabeir–Promised Money {Ire} {SW-Ire, SP-Eng}, by Dark Angel {Ire}) Sales history: 180,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $14,500. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
O-Peter M Brant; B-Yeomanstown Stud (IRE); T-Chad C Brown.

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