Repent Takes Center Stage As Triple Crown Trail Heads Toward Louisiana

Louisiana racing fans are expected to be treated to a mini-reprise of the 2001 Breeders' Cup Juvenile championship on Sunday as New Orleans' Fair Grounds presents a star-studded cast for the Grade II, $750,000 Louisiana Derby.

Though winner Johannesburg and third-place finisher Siphonic won't be in the starting gate, runner-up Repent and fourth-place finisher PUBLICATION will. Add to that, FRENCH ASSAULT, who finished sixth, and you have the makings of a very competitive field and one that could offer as many as a half-dozen prospects for further consideration for the Visa Triple Crown and $5 million Visa Triple Crown Challenge.

Expected to join Risen Star Stakes victor Repent from that earlier Fair Grounds Grade III event are runner-up BOB'S IMAGE, third finisher Easyfromthegitgo, the aforementioned FRENCH ASSAULT, who was fourth, and It'sallinthechase, who finished 10th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and fifth in the Risen Star. Though he's not among the early nominees to the Visa Triple Crown, his connections no doubt still harbor such hopes for their runner and a big effort in the Louisiana Derby could earn him a late nomination.

The deadline for late nominations is Saturday, March 30.

Select Stable's Repent, who made an impressive 3-year-old debut in the Risen Star for trainer Ken McPeek, has his connections gliding on air at the moment, convinced that they have one of the best 3-year-old prospects in North America if not beyond. The Louisiana Derby test could strengthen that belief and send the son of 1996 Preakness winner Louis Quatorze to the top of the heap among his cohorts in North America. The dark brown/bay colt moves to this new level with a new rider, multiple Eclipse Award winner and record-setting money winner Jerry Bailey.

While his Risen Star victims no doubt will be pressing him again, Repent's biggest challenge probably will be coming from West Coast shipper PUBLICATION, who won the Arlington-Washington Futurity last year on his way to the Breeders' Cup. The Terry Knight trainee, owned by Mercedes Stables, will be making his first start of the year and will be shipping from his Bay Meadows home base south of San Francisco.

Large Field Shaping Up For El Camino Real Derby -- While he ships east, his Northern California colleagues will be getting ready for Saturday's running of the Grade III, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, across the bay in Albany, Calif. Heading a field that is already confirmed at seven and could easily grow to a dozen will be a pair of runners conditioned by the acknowledged king of Northern California trainers, Jerry Hollendorfer. Expected at the gate from his barn are CAPPUCHINO, who comes to the race off of a front-running victory in the Golden State Mile on Feb. 10 for owners George Todaro, Howard Litt and Hollendorfer, and YOUGOTTAWANNA, a gelded son of Candi's Gold owned by Ted Aroney's Halo Farms and Sidney Craig.

Already confirmed as contenders with this duo are Turf Paradise Derby winner CAPTAIN SQUIRE, owned by Bob D. Bone and Jeffrey S. Diener and trained by Jeff Mullins; the D. Wayne Lukas-trained FEBRUARY STORM, owned by The Thoroughbred Corp.; and non-nominees Arsen, Lusty Latin and Night Passion.

Listed as potential joiners to the field are Danthebluegrassman, owned by Mike Pegram and trained by Bob Baffert and already a winner over CAPPUCHINO in the Grade III Golden Gate Derby on Jan. 12; J P Racing's DIAL A HERO, trained by Joe Parga; NATIONAL PARK, owned by Fog City Stable and trained by Robert B. Hess Jr.; John Paul Reddam's ROYAL MORO, trained by Craig Dollase; and STORMY FOREVER, owned by Stan E. Fulton and trained by Oscar Garcia.

You, Habibti Rivalry Continues In Santa Anita Oaks -- Though it seldom supplies a Visa Triple Crown runner, the Santa Anita Oaks holds a place on the calendar, just in case. And this year, the "just in case" could be in force for the Grade I event for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday. With the field considered wide open among 3-year-old males, it's not inconceivable that at least one filly could find her way to the gate on Kentucky Derby day, May 4. For instance, Eclipse-winning trainers Robert Frankel and Bob Baffert aren't overwhelmed with potential standout male runners in the class, but do have a pair of accomplished distaffers who could fit the field.

Frankel's YOU, who finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as the 95-cents-to-a-dollar favorite, will be the favorite to repeat an earlier victory over the Baffert-trained HABIBTI. It will mark the fourth straight face-to-face encounter for the pair, going back to the B.C. Juvenile Fillies, where HABIBTI stumbled out of the gate and staggered home seventh of nine.

That filly, owned by The Thoroughbred Corp., came back, however, to nip Edmund Gann's YOU by a head in the Hollywood Starlet as both closed out their freshman seasons. YOU turned the tables on her earlier tormentor by scoring a one-length victory over her in the Grade I, one-mile Las Virgenes on Feb. 10. The fillies will go 1 1/16 miles in Saturday's Oaks, which figures to draw a field of six.

Speaking of fillies with Visa Triple Crown credentials, Godolphin Racing's pair of TEMPERA and IMPERIAL GESTURE, the one-two finishers in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, remain prospects for the first leg of the three classics, the Kentucky Derby.

Came Home Impressive In Year's First Big Test -- He Came Home just the way his connections wanted him to, and he came out of the race in tip-top shape.

That pretty much tells the story of Came Home following his solid three-length victory in Saturday's Grade II San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita. The ease with which he scored and the pulling-away margin had owners John Toffan, Trudy McCaffery, Bill Farish and John Goodman looking ahead to the next challenge - the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 5 at the Arcadia, Calif., oval. Ever-cautious trainer Paco Gonzalez made no commitment to the next step, demurring to the owners.

Even so, it was hard for him to contain his happiness over the colt's performance. Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider Chris McCarron was more profuse, saying, "I was ecstatic after the race. Obviously, he looked like the best horse on paper, but the way he finished in the race was very promising."

Promising, too, were the performances of runner-up Easy Grades, in his first run in stakes company, and fourth-place finisher Ocean Sound, making his first start on the dirt. Another prep for the pair appears in the offing. It looks that way for Fonz's, too. He was making his first start of the year, and trainer David Lacroix acknowledged the colt might not have been sharp enough.

The San Rafael runner-up is owned by Desperado Stables and trained by Ted H. West, Ocean Sound runs for Jim Ford, David Pearson and K M Stable under the training of James Cassidy, and Fonz's carries the colors of Meadowbrook Farms.

Request For Parole Wins Battaglia, Spiral Next -- Three non-graded Derby preps on Saturday farther east turned up the enthusiasm for some other upcoming major preps - the Grade II, $500,000 Lane's End Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 23, the Grade III, $100,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on the same day, and the Federico Tesio Stakes on April 20 at Pimlico Race Course.

At Turfway Park, Request For Parole, owned by Sam and Jeri Knighton and trained by Stephen Margolis, scored a solid victory in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. Stonecrest Farm's PERFECT DRIFT, trained by Murray Johnson, took second in the race and non-nominee Thunder on Land, a stablemate of the winner, grabbed third money.

"Emblem", "Parilla" Take Split Southwest -- To the south, at Arkansas' Oaklawn Park, two divisions of the track's Southwest Stakes provided victory for Private Emblem in the first division and non-nominee Paloma Parilla in the second, as two nominees hit the board in the first division and one in the second. Trailing Private Emblem, who is owned by James Cassels and Bob Zollars and trained by Steve Asmussen, were Dusty Spike and the formerly unbeaten CLERGY, owned by Adele Dilschneider and trained by Frank Brothers. Finishing second in the second division was Cope With An Image, and third went to Windward Passage, owned by Team Valor and trained by Asmussen.

At Laurel Park in Maryland, the $75,000 Deputed Testamony Stakes turned out to be a solo show for Nancy H. Alberts as MAGIC WEISNER, owned, bred and trained by Alberts, captured the 1 1/16-mile feature of the day. Finishing second was Invent, with Root With Style third.

Over There -- Michael Tabor and Susan Magnier's Johannesburg is training forwardly for a run at Visa Triple Crown, according to Tabor, who was a visitor in Santa Anita's paddock during Saturday's big day of racing that included the San Rafael Stakes and the Santa Anita Handicap. He confirmed that the son of Hennessy would run once in Ireland and then tackle the Derby at Churchill Downs.

Meanwhile, in Dubai, Godolphin Racing's Essence of Dubai, who finished 12th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, made his first start of 2002 a winning one as he nosed out stablemate Firebreak, not a Triple Crown early nominee, in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) 2000 Guineas at Nad al Sheba racecourse. The son of Pulpit, who went into the Breeders' Cup after winning the Grade II Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita last October, completed the mile in 1:36.60 under Godolphin's premier rider, Frankie Dettori.

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