Chip Honcho goes for double in Lecomte; Atropa favored in Silverbulletday

Jan 12, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Chip Honcho wins the Gun Runner at Fair Grounds.

Chip Honcho wins the Gun Runner at Fair Grounds. (Photo by Hodges Photography)

Chip Honcho captured the first scoring race on the Fair Grounds Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Dec. 20 Gun Runner S., but he’ll have to withstand an onslaught of new challengers in Saturday’s $250,000 Lecomte (G3).

Like the Gun Runner, the Lecomte is contested over 1 1/16 miles at the historic New Orleans venue. But the Lecomte is worth twice as many points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale to the top five finishers.

Kentucky Oaks (G1) candidates will also be in the spotlight, with the $150,000 Silverbulletday S. offering the same 20-10-6-4-2 points structure.

You can watch and wager on the banner “Road to the Derby Day” program at TwinSpires.com. The Silverbulletday is the 10th race (5:30 p.m. ET), and the Lecomte concludes the 13-race card at 7 p.m. ET.

Lecomte (G3)

Chip Honcho made a winning stakes and two-turn debut in the Gun Runner. Adding blinkers for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, he chased longtime leader Crown the Buckeye and ultimately wore him down. Chip Honcho, and jockey Paco Lopez, could have a tougher time duplicating that trip on Saturday. He’s drawn the far outside post 11.

Crown the Buckeye appeared to be in control of the Gun Runner until deep stretch, when he tired in the final yards and wound up third. The Mike Maker pupil will try to finish better with new rider Ricardo Santana Jr. A star in the Ohio-bred ranks, as his name implies, Crown the Buckeye has been installed as the lukewarm 4-1 favorite on the morning line.

Also aiming to move forward from the Gun Runner is fourth-placer Quality Mischief, one of a trio that trainer Brad Cox entered in the Lecomte. Stablemate White Tiger is likely to attract more support as a wire-to-wire maiden winner on the Oct. 26 “Stars of Tomorrow I” card at Churchill Downs. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides White Tiger back on Saturday.

The other Cox contender, Thunder Buck, just broke his maiden at this track and trip over Ocelli. But Thunder Buck, a son of Gun Runner, is cross-entered to an allowance earlier on the card (the third race at 2 p.m. ET). Luis Saez stays aboard in either case. The Whit Beckman-trained Ocelli is himself cross-entered to the eighth race (4:30 p.m. ET), another course-and-distance maiden. Whichever spot he chooses, Ocelli will don blinkers.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux sends out a pair of good-looking maiden winners in Golden Tempo and Mesquite. Golden Tempo exploded from last to win his six-furlong debut here on Gun Runner Day, and as a blueblood Curlin colt, he should enjoy more distance.

Mesquite, originally intended for the Gun Runner before scratching, similarly came from the clouds to break his maiden at Churchill. Flavien Prat picks up the mount on Mesquite, while Golden Tempo keeps Jose Ortiz.

Brendan Walsh is double-handed with the undefeated Stop the Car and recent graduate Carson Street. Stop the Car, by champion Maximum Security, was a convincing allowance winner on Churchill’s Nov. 29 “Stars of Tomorrow II” program.

Carson Street, a son of 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1) champion Street Sense, just aired in an off-the-turf maiden at Fair Grounds. Previously runner-up to Incredibolt and third in Mesquite’s maiden, Carson Street will team up with Axel Concepcion on Saturday. Jockey Ben Curtis, who rode Carson Street last time out, instead sides with Stop the Car in the Lecomte.

Longshot Exosome upset an off-the-turf Keeneland maiden in his latest for Kelsey Danner.

Silverbulletday S.

Two leading contenders in the six-filly field, Atropa and Taken by the Wind, were last seen in Road to the Kentucky Oaks events at Churchill Downs.

Taken by the Wind, 2-for-2 so far, romped in the Sept 13 Pocahontas (G3) that kicked off the Oaks points races. The Kenny McPeek trainee stretches out to two turns in this mile and 70-yard affair.

Atropa, the slight 2-1 favorite on the morning line, comes off a hard-charging second in the Nov. 29 Golden Rod (G2). In her prior start, Atropa crushed a Keeneland maiden by 10 lengths. She is joined by her stablemate from the DeVaux barn, White Smoke, who was an impressive last-to-first debut winner in a Fair Grounds sprint maiden.

The Oaks series at Fair Grounds began with the Dec. 20 Untapable S. Although the victorious Hit Parade is not here, the respective second and third from the Untapable are back with claims to improve. Runner-up Luv Your Neighbor missed by only a head despite her troubled trip. Pashmina, who tired to third in the Untapable, previously dominated a maiden over this track.

Rounding out the field is Dancin in Old Town, a twice-raced maiden with the pedigree to show much more.

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