Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes showcases nine recently turned 3-year-olds and is the first of a local three-race prep series at the Fair Grounds on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Depending on how some of these horses progress, they could be seen in the Risen Star Stakes four weeks from now on Feb. 19, and then hopefully in the Louisiana Derby on March 26.
Leading the Lecomte field is Epicenter, winner of the Gun Runner Stakes on Dec. 26, a newly anointed Road to the Derby race in which he earned 10 points, which could be significant later in the season. Pappacap is notable not because of his two runner-up efforts last fall but because those efforts came against unbeaten and untested Corniche in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes and in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Unified Report is unbeaten in three races but gets a test on two levels here as his wins in the Louisiana Legacy Stakes and Louisiana Juvenile Stakes were against Louisiana-breds and were sprint races; he will be tackling two-turns for the first time in the Lecomte. Trafalgar is an up-and-coming horse who has won two in a row including a race at the distance of the Lecomte at Fair Grounds. Cyberknife also won his most recent start at this distance and over the track, but it was a maiden race so he is stepping way up in class.
Presidential was impressive when winning by seven and three-quarter lengths in his second career start, but it was nearly five months ago so he could be a bit short of ready for this caliber of field. Blue Kentucky finished third in the Sugar Bowl Stakes near the end of December and he too is trying two turns for the first time. Surfer Dude finished third behind Epicenter in the Gun Runner Stakes after leading for the first six furlongs so will be trying to improve, while Call Me Midnight was last seen finishing seventh of 11 in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes near the end of November.
Analysis:
Epicenter improved markedly last November in his second career start when stretching out to a mile (around one turn) for the first time and controlling the tempo from start to finish to beat nine other horses rather easily by 3 1/2 lengths. Moving way up in class from the maiden ranks to run in the inaugural Gun Runner Stakes, and in his first try around two-turns, Epicenter improved again to a career-best 98 ™ Equibase Speed Figure while cruising to a 6 1/2-length win in “ridden out” fashion. Those two figures offer this colt a “double advantage” over the other eight entrants, as the lower of the two is higher than the higher of the last two figures of any of the other horses. Historically these types of horses have a high probability to win. Considering the win was at Fair Grounds and at the distance of the Lecomte and Epicenter is making only his fourth career start and second around two-turns, this colt is the one to beat in the Lecomte.
Trafalgar shows a similar pattern to Epicenter, except he hasn't run in a stakes race yet. Trafalgar finished second in his debut last summer at the same seven furlong distance that Epicenter finished sixth in his debut. In his second career start, also in a one-turn mile last fall, Trafalgar improved markedly, rallying from ninth of 10 to draw off late and earn a career-best figure, in this case an 88. Now this is where the two colts' paths diverge. Trafalgar took two months off and ran in an allowance race at Fair Grounds on Dec. 2, instead of a stakes race as Epicenter did. Although only winning by a head, and although the figure was lower at 82 then in his previous race, Trafalgar showed a lot of mental toughness in victory which may benefit him in the Lecomte. This is because after stalking in second and taking the lead to draw away in the stretch by 1 1/2 lengths, Trafalgar was challenged in the final yards but held his ground to emerge victorious by a head. Making his second start off the layoff, second over the Fair Grounds surface and second at this distance, Trafalgar draws one position inside Epicenter in the gate, and if in the final yards these two colts are neck-and-neck, Trafalgar may have the mental talent to post the mild upset and win.
Pappacap began his career last spring and summer in sensational fashion, breaking his maiden easily by almost three lengths then winning the Best Pal Stake by nearly five lengths. After a mediocre fourth place finish in the Del Mar Futurity last summer, trainer Mark Casse did not give up on Pappacap and entered him in a two-turn race for the first time in the American Pharoah Stakes. In that race he ran into Corniche, who had just galloped in his maiden win and was the prohibitive favorite. Even with Corniche rolling all alone on the front end, Pappacap stayed as close as he could and held second at 13 to 1 odds. Five weeks later in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, once again Pappacap faced Corniche and while that one rolled wire-to-wire on top as the heavy favorite, Pappacap finished second of 11 in a fine effort, earning a career-best 95 figure in the process. It might be a tougher task to run as well off nearly three months away from the races as compared to Epicenter and Trafalgar, but if Pappacap is fit to run as well as he did in his last race off workouts alone he should be a strong factor in this year's Lecomte Stakes.
The rest of the field, with their best ™ Equibase Speed Figures, is Blue Kentucky (94 in sprints), Call Me Midnight (89), Cyberknife (91), Presidential (79), Surfer Dude (92 sprinting) and Unified Report (90 sprinting).
Win contenders, in preference/probability order:
Epicenter
Trafalgar
Pappacap
Lecomte Stakes
Race 14 at Fair Grounds
Saturday, January 22, 2022 – Post Time 7:20 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Sixteenth
Three Year Olds
Purse: $200,000
The post Equibase Analysis: Epicenter The One To Beat In Lecomte appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
