Photo: CDI
Three straight wins in the last three runnings of the
$150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic at Fair Grounds! That’s unprecedented, but Brittlyn Stable’s
Star Guitar also now boasts five straight stakes victories recorded over the last five renewals of the Crescent City oval’s
Louisiana Champions Day – an
annual one-day series of races restricted to accredited
Louisiana-breds. Naturally, both of Star Guitar’s Champions Day
milestones established on Saturday are likely to be around for a
long, long time in the history of Thoroughbred competition in the
Pelican State.
“(Saturday) was a good day.
There’s no ‘ifs,’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about that,” said Star Guitar’s trainer
Al Stall Jr. during training
hours Sunday morning, speaking in his mercifully well-heated office on
the Fair Grounds backstretch . “The ‘Star’ was the star – yeah, sure –
and I liked the way he looked leading up to
yesterday. He trained really well – maybe even a notch better – and he
was really easy on himself as usual. He cooled out quickly last night
and appears to be doing real well this morning. The next step for him
looks to be that race at Delta Downs on Delta
Premier Night. I think that’s also the night before the Super Bowl.”
However,
Stall had more than “Star” going for
him Saturday. He saddled a training triple for the day to regain the
lead in the trainer standings entering Sunday, also winning the
$100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile with Brittlyn Stable’s
Beanwah’smachine and a 2-year-old maiden filly race with James Pickering’s
Kevil Kid. He also ran second by a nose in the
$100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Turf with Red Oak Stable’s
Kissimmee Kyle.
“Actually,
I thought (Beanwah’smachine) ran
better on opening day,” said Stall of that 2-year-old half-brother to
Star Guitar. “He might have reacted a little bit yesterday after coming
back that quick (after Thanksgiving).
“As
for Kissimmee Kyle, I thought he ran well,”
said Stall. “He just didn’t quite handle the winner. If he’d have had
one more race back before yesterday, he might have been really cranked.
And as for the fillies (Brittlyn color bearers
Sunday’s Child and
Bleu Darling, third and eighth, respectively, in the
$100,000 Louisiana Champion Lassie), I think they both wanted to go farther.”