Calhoun looks to upset Asmussen pair in Fair Grounds preps

Trainer Bret Calhoun has been here before, and everyone around Fair Grounds Race Course this Louisiana Derby week has reminded him of it.

It was 3 years ago that the Calhoun-trained By My Standards upset the Louisiana Derby, winning the Pelican State’s richest race at 22.5 to 1, defeating 4 to 5 favorite (and eventual Preakness Stakes winner) War of Will in the process.

Now Calhoun is back with Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch’s Kupuna, who is taking on Risen Star Stakes winner Epicenter in this year’s Louisiana Derby with another $1 million purse and a trip to the Kentucky Derby hanging in the balance.

“The light bulb has gone on for this colt,” Calhoun said Friday morning. “That was a nice maiden win at Oaklawn in his 3-year-old debut after we felt unlucky not to win at Churchill before that. He was the best horse.

“That’s the thing with him: we’ve known the talent was there, and he’s showed it to us in his last two races, and then his workouts since the last race is just like ‘wow!’ He was never beating Cyberknife last time, but we’re even better now.”

But is he better than Epicenter? That’s the (literally) million-dollar question ahead of the Louisiana Derby. Epicenter not only has the resume but also the tactics, as Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Not This Time colt is a commanding presence on the front end.

“Hopefully there’s some pace for us to run into,” Calhoun said. “It’s a big race. These horses are here to win, so you have Zozos and Pioneer of Medina that can be there early. We’re going to need something to run into.”

Calhoun said it’s up to jockey Reylu Gutierrez to determine when to put Kapuna in the race in earnest, but he has full faith in the pilot. Together, they’ve won 6 of 22 races together since Feb. 3.

“He does his homework,” Calhoun said. “He always has his face in the form and is doing research. He comes ready to ride.”

Calhoun will also leg up Gutierrez on Hidden Connection in the Fair Grounds Oaks, another race they’ll be looking to upset an Asmussen monster, this time in the form of undefeated champion Echo Zulu making her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

“If you’re going to try to beat (Echo Zulu) then now’s the time,” Calhoun said. “We thought about the Ashland for Hidden Connection because maybe that’ll come up a little lighter without having an undefeated champion, but I like running out of our own stall, and she couldn’t be training any better.”

Hidden Connection was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, beaten 13 1/2 lengths by Echo Zulu. She returned in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes but faded to fourth after making the lead. Calhoun said that the Connect filly needed the race after some lackadaisical training ahead of her three-year-old debut.

“If it was almost any other horse you’d say, ‘Oh, she’s training fine,’ but for this filly I could tell her head wasn’t completely in the game,” Calhoun said. “That race woke her up, and she’s been training great since then.”

The Oaks-Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds complete an all-stakes Pick 5. Visit the Horse Racing Nation Youtube page for a video discussing the sequence.