Connections 'looking forward to the summer' with My Boy Jack

With My Boy Jack having posted three workouts in the new year, trainer Keith Desormeaux is beginning to ponder comeback spots for the fan-favorite closer. And that could mean a return to Churchill Downs, where the son of Creative Cause was bet down to be among last year's top Kentucky Derby choices.

Desormeaux told Fair Grounds publicity staff -- he's sending Sueno for Saturday's Louisiana Derby (G2) in New Orleans -- that 4-year-old My Boy Jack is "doing great."

"We took a couple chips out of his ankle in the summer and he got some time off," the trainer added. "He had a half-mile work on Saturday and we’re looking forward to the summer with him."

Running for Don't Tell My Wife Stables, Sol Kumin's Monomoy Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds, My Boy Jack has posted his weekly breezes at Santa Anita Park. But Desormeaux often keeps a Kentucky-based string of horses, and he hopes to saddle Sueno in this year's Derby.

For My Boy Jack, that could mean a plane ride East.

"We just started talking about it," Desormeaux said of return race spots. "There’s a mile allowance race on Derby week that might be a good spot for him, but we’ll look for something.”

My Boy Jack has won three of 12 starts, with each of those victories in stakes company, including last year's Southwest (G3) and Lexington (G3). He ran fifth in the Kentucky Derby, then returned on turf in July to be eighth in the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) in his most-recent start.