Stidham aims 2 'very nice 3-year-olds' to Lecomte

It’s early days on the Kentucky Derby trail, and Saturday’s Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds will give us a new colt or two to consider. The 1 1/16-mile route offers points to the top four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 basis.

Michael Stidham aims two colts for the race that he claims are the standout 3-year-olds in his barn: Proxy and Manor House. Both, he says, are "very nice 3-year-olds."

Proxy is a Godolphin homebred who broke his maiden on second try in November at Fair Grounds going 1 mile 70 yards. Then he won an allowance race there on Dec. 19 at 1 1/16 miles. He’s not included in the Las Vegas futures odds.

"Both of his races here at the Fair Grounds have been really good races," Stidham said. "He’s kind of a big, immature colt that’s learning as he goes. And he’s trained well since that last race, so we’re putting him in here for some experience in this stake race as a prep that will hopefully lead us to the Louisiana Derby."

Manor House has one race and one win to his credit, winning by 12 1/4 lengths at a mile at Laurel Park on Dec. 12. The son of Upstart has Kentucky Derby futures odds of 150-1.

"He was ultra-impressive in his first start," Stidham said. "He won by over 12 lengths, so it’s hard to know for sure what he was running away from, what he was beating in that race with a field full of maidens.

"But he’s another one that, leading up to the race, had trained well. We were always impressed with his breezes in the morning. He was one of those kind of horses that was out working, whatever competition we put with him in the morning, so we liked him a lot in his first start. And he went out there and ran like we thought he would."

Manor House also is entered in the eighth race, an allowance affair on Saturday. (The Lecomte is the 11th race on the card.) Stidham said the colt's connections had not decided which race they will choose for him.

Steve Asmussen brings Midnight Bourbon, who has 6 points on the leaderboard after finishing second in the Iroquois (G3) on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He also finished third in the Champagne (G1) on Oct. 10, behind Jackie’s Warrior and Reinvestment Risk. He’s at 75-1 in Kentucky Derby futures odds.

The only other entry with Derby points is Arabian Prince, who broke his maiden at Churchill Downs on Sept. 2 at one mile. He then finished second in the Street Sense on Oct. 25 and third in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) on Nov. 28, both at Churchill Downs at 1 1/16 miles. He has Kentucky Derby futures odds of 25-1.

Trainer Dallas Stewart said the Mshawish colt, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, has “done well though the winter” at Fair Grounds. 

“I thought he was terrific” in the Kentucky Jockey Club, Stewart said.

Arabian Prince is “a well-matured young 3-year-old,” he said. “We’re excited. He’s done real well for us. We’ll see where we’re at.”