Just five runners will line up to contest the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic December 13 at Fair Grounds, leaving bettors to decide whether the heavily favored Sunbeam (2/5 ML) is worth playing against or a simply a free square in the exotic wagering.
Sunbeam was simply dominant in two November starts at Delta Downs winning the Delta Gold Cup and the Delta Mile by a combined nine and three quarter lengths. In eight lifetime starts at Fair Grounds, Sunbeam has recorded five wins, a second and a third for earnings of $307,769. Trained by Ron Faucheux, the four year-old gelded son of Brahms has won twelve of nineteen overall with just four off-the-board finishes. A win in the Louisiana Champions Classic would push Sunbeam’s career earnings over the $1 million mark.
On paper, the rest of the field looks severely overmatched. 3/1 morning line second choice One King’s Man looks to be the only horse fast enough to pose any challenge to Sunbeam. In his last start, the Joe Sharp trainee recorded an impressive 103 Beyer Speed Figure while beating a field of state-bred optional claimers November 23 at Fair Grounds at a mile and seventy yards. Another figure that fast would make One King’s Man a serious contender, but that figure, which was earned over a muddy track, is a major outlier in One King’s Man’s racing record (His previous fastest race yielded just an 87 Beyer).
Louisiana Flyboy (5/1) is a rapidly improving three year-old colt who ran second to Sunbeam in the Delta Gold Cup. While he probably won’t contend for win honors, the runner-up spot looks well within his grasp again.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
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