Stay Put may await Risen Star

Trainer Steve Margolis and his tight-knit crew were awarded “Barn of the Month” honors Saturday at Fair Grounds, but after Sunday’s 10th race Margolis also became “man of the hour” when his highly regarded 3-year-old prospect Stay Put, owned by Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein, scored a decisive one-length tally in a race with possible long-range Louisiana Derby implications.

That’s because less than an hour earlier (59 minutes to be exact) Margolis had reached the winner’s circle with What’s New – another sophomore owned by the Klein family who broke his maiden impressively by two lengths in Sunday’s eighth race.

So what’s new and what’s next for the Margolis trainees, which also include this season’s $60,000 Sugar Bowl Stakes winner Cool Bullet, owned by Winmore LLC?

“Nothing has been finalized in my mind yet about future plans for any of them,” said Margolis Monday morning, “but right now I’m thinking about holding Stay Put back for the (Grade II $300,000) Risen Star on Feb. 20.  We think coming back in three weeks for the (Grade III) Lecomte (Jan. 23) might be pushing things a little. We already know he can go two turns.

“Besides, I already have Cool Bullet pointing to the Lecomte,” Margolis said. “In fact he was on the track this morning and he went very well. I’ll probably work him one more time and put him in the Lecomte to see if he can go turns, and as for What’s New, I really haven’t decided anything about what might be next for him,” Margolis said.

Of course, Margolis also has the promising 3-year-old filly Visavis, owned by Martin Cherry and second by a nose in the Letellier Memorial Dec. 19, as a member of his talented barn.

“I’ll probably point her toward the $75,000 Tiffany Lass (Jan 23) next and see how she does in there,” Margolis said, “and as for Cash Refund (another Klein family color bearer) – maybe I’ll look at the Gaudin Memorial (Jan. 23) for him.”