New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) – Eagle, owned by William S. Farish, has
drawn the far outside post in an 11-horse field for Saturday’s 71st running of
the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds as the track commences its road to
the Kentucky Derby
Trained by Neil Howard, Eagle is the 3-1 morning line favorite for the mile,
70 yard stakes and will be ridden by his regular jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
Eagle, a half-brother to Shared Belief, has two wins, a second and a third
from four starts. In his first stakes action he was third in the Kentucky
Jockey Club Stakes behind El Kabeir at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29. The colt
has banked $81,602.
Leaving from post 4 will the 9-2 second choice War Story with James Graham in
the saddle. The chestnut gelding is perfect in his first two career starts,
most recently winning a two-turn mile allowance, with Graham riding, at Fair
Grounds on Dec. 28. He won his debut race at Churchill Downs on Nov. 1 with
Corey Lanerie having the mount. War Story is trained by Tom Amoss for Loooch
Racing Stable and Chris Dunn.
The 5-1 third pick for the Lecomte is Mike McCarty’s Tiznow R J trained by
Steve Asmussen. The colt will have Robby Albarado riding and break from post
2.
Tiznow R J, third in his first two starts at Churchill, led the entire way to
break his maiden by 13 lengths at Fair Grounds on Dec. 11 at the Lecomte
distance.
Here is the field for the Lecomte in post position order: International Star,
Miguel Mena, 8-1; Tiznow R J, Robby Albarado, 5-1; Four Leaf Chief, Florent
Geroux, 10-1; War Story, James Graham, 9-2; Hero of Humor, Alexander Reznikov,
50-1; Savoy Stomp, Mike Smith, 8-1; Runhappy, Shaun Bridgmohan, 8-1,
Killingit, Jamie Theriot, 15-1; Dekabrist, Sal Gonzalez Jr., 30-1; Another
Lemon Drop, Calvin Borel, 6-1 and Eagle, Brian Hernandez Jr., 3-1.
The Lecomte has an approximate post time of 6:24 p.m. ET.
The Lecomte is the first of three major 3-year-old stakes at Fair Grounds
leading to the $750,000 Louisiana Derby on Mar. 28.
