Beware the Ides of March, they say. Courtlandt Farms’ Machen,
fourth in Fair Grounds’ Grade II Risen Star Stakes as the local prep for
the upcoming $1 million Louisiana Derby March 26, worked a
bullet five-eighths in 59.60 on March 15 without being asked for anything extra.
“He did it on his own,” said trainer Neil Howard,
speaking at Fair Grounds Friday morning during training hours. “There was another
horse with him – an older horse – but we didn’t ask (Machen) to do any more
than he wanted to do.”
Gaillardia Racing’s Wilkinson, winner of Fair
Grounds’ Grade III Lecomte Stakes Jan. 22 as the first leg of the local
sophomore series leading up to the Louisiana Derby, had breezed last Monday one
day prior to Machen’s move, going five furlongs in 1:00.60.
“Both horses are doing fine,” said Howard of his
double-barreled Louisiana Derby threat. “Both of them will work again on
Monday. It won’t be anything serious – just a half and then galloping out down
the backside.”
Veteran reinsman Edgar Prado, who rode Lael Stable’s
Barbaro to victory in the 2006 Kentucky Derby, has been named to
handle the reins on Machen in the Louisiana Derby and will fly in for Monday’s
work, while 2009 Eclipse Award-winning jockey Garrett Gomez has elected
to ride Wilkinson in the centerpiece event of the Crescent
City
oval’s Thoroughbred racing season.
Howard has two previous victories to his credit in the
Louisiana Derby, saddling Elkins, Farish and Humphrey’s Comic Strip to
capture the 1998 renewal, and Farish’s Line In The Sand to win the 1992
edition.