Loukas Makes US Bow in Norfolk
Darrell Vienna is not one to roll the dice with abandon, but he feels
he has a longshot chance to win Saturday’s Grade I Norfolk Stakes with
an Irish-bred 2-year-old colt named Loukas, who will be making only his
third start and his first in the United States.
“It’s very ambitious, there’s no question about that,” the
trainer said. “(But) the field doesn’t have the depth that you would
expect in the Norfolk. Of the five horses, three are certainly
established, high-quality horses. They would be Drill, Creative Cause
and the maiden of Doug O’Neill’s(Basmati).
“I think they’ve demonstrated a quality that stands above the rest of the babies out here.
“Two are horses that you would expect to be in
non-winners-other-than. One broke his maiden at Pomona (in a $32,000
maiden claimer, Super Candy) and the other horse (Ruler of Dubai)
doesn’t look like at first blush you’d run away from, so I think we fit
with probably half the field.
“We have to see how good he is. He’s a very composed horse. He’s
done everything right here, but what we don’t know is how good he is.”
The field for the Norfolk, which is the fifth race: Super Candy, Hector Berrios, 50-1; Loukas, Patrick Valenzuela, 15-1; Ruler of Dubai, Mike Smith, 8-1; Creative Cause, Joel Rosario, 6-5; Drill, Martin Garcia, 1-1; and Basmati, Joe Talamo, 6-1.