Smith Shoots for Classic With String King

Charlie Smith, the always likeable Louisiana native horseman who owns and trains two-time defending Louisiana Champions Day Turf winner String King surely knows his horse better than anyone else because he also bred him.

This week, however, Smith and String King have become the buzz of the backstretch.

That’s because on Saturday, Smith will drive in from his Haughton base of operations to saddle String King – not in the $100,000 Turf in a quest for his third straight win in that test over the Stall-Wilson turf course but in the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic on the main track.

“I have to admit I’m getting a little antsy,” said Smith Thursday morning, speaking over the phone from Haughton of his courageous, calculated gamble to go for the larger purse, “but I’m looking forward to running him in that spot (the Classic).  I hope it works out the way I planned it.

“I may not be the smartest guy in the world,” Smith concluded.  “No one knows that better than me – but I didn’t just jump off the last banana truck, either.”