Morris Nicks on a roll at Louisiana Downs

Morris Nicks is heating up just like the weather at Louisiana Downs.

As the mercury creeps up toward triple digits in northern Louisiana earlier than usual this summer, Nicks has had a run of victories that finds him atop the trainer standings with eight winners from just 24 starters during the first month of the meeting.

“It does make things go easier,” Nicks said during training hours Monday. “It is always nice to win races.”

One of the most impressive of Nicks’s conquests was a maiden score by the 3-year-old colt Eddie’s Band, who graduated to the ranks of winners last Friday in his second career start. The son of Eddington out the Deputy Minister mare Bandstand led from start to finish in the seven-furlong maiden special affair and eventually won by more than nine lengths, stopping the timer in an eye-opening 1:22.85 over a strip that was not playing particularly fast.