Disco Time splashed his way to a 3 for 3 record, 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, and a neck win in the Grade 3, $250,000 Lecomte Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
His victory for breeder Juddmonte Farms, trainer Brad Cox, and jockey Florent Geroux came one race after Cox and Geroux teamed up to win the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes with 5-year-old Hit Show. Hit Show rallied from last to first, and Disco Time also closed from the rear of the field while racing very wide in the homestretch – so wide, in fact, that Geroux almost could’ve reached over and danced with racegoers leaning on the apron fence.
Built, second choice behind favored Disco Time, saved ground around the far turn and rallied much nearer the rail than Disco Time, but could not stave off the winner.
“My horse was able to overcome it,” Geroux said.
Disco Time closed from 10th at the five-furlong marker, but while he passed many horses, he did not do so while running fast. The Lecomte’s winning time came back 1:47.07, albeit over a sloppy, sealed surface that had been producing slow times throughout a card that had begun nearly six hours earlier. Before Saturday, the slowest Lecomte renewal in the race’s recent 1 1/16-mile history was 1:45.12. Hit Show had clocked 1:44.91 a race earlier, and debuting 3-year-old Hypnus went 1:46.33 five races before the Lecomte.
Innovator went to the lead from post 1 and racing clear, clocked 23.68 for his first quarter mile and 47.91 to the half. And then the slowing began. The third quarter mile went in 25.47, the fourth in 26.71, and the final half-furlong in a glacial 6.98.
Times aside, Disco Time did lose some ground on the far turn and stayed on stoutly for a horse making his first start around two turns. Cox, taking a relatively conservative route, placed Disco Time in a one-turn mile allowance race Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs after Disco Time scored a winning debut there Nov. 1. Disco Time also faced the challenge of an outside draw Saturday, post 10 after Admiral Dennis was scratched.
“He broke okay, and from there I saw a lot of horses going at it, so I just tucked in right away. I was able to save a lot of ground on the first tune, which was very important. He relaxed beautifully for me, took the kickback very well. I just [bided] my time to make sure I was going to time it right,” said Geroux.
While Disco Time had shown positional pace in one-turn races, Cox said earlier in the week that the colt wouldn’t lead the Lecomte. Still, the early and middle position surprised him.
“I did think he’d be a little closer, but it looked like he was travelling well enough,” Cox said. “Florent did a good job being patient, not pushing the button too soon.”
Disco Time is by Not This Time out of Disco Chick, by Jump Start. Raw times aside, he’s on the Derby trail now.
“I thought it was a great stepping-stone in his career. I’m excited with what this horse accomplished today,” Cox said.
Kentucky Derby qualifying points, which determine the 20 Derby runners, were respectively distributed 10, 6, 4, and 2 to Built (who already had 10 from his Gun Runner win), a staying-on Innovator, pace-stalking fourth-place finisher Golden Afternoon, and fifth-place Afternoon Promise.
Built, who finished very fast off a slow pace winning the Gun Runner on Dec. 21, got an excellent ride from Jareth Loveberry, who managed to find a good stalking spot while getting into about the No. 2 path around the first turn after breaking from post 12. Built, however, spun his wheels on the far turn, taking Loveberry nowhere, and it wasn’t until about the eighth pole that he began gaining on Innovator, coming outside the pacesetter before Disco Time tagged him.
Cox didn’t say whether Disco Time would come back in the Risen Star Stakes next month, but, given the arc of his racing schedule, that would make sense for the Juddmonte homebred. Awaiting whoever shows up there will be the Godolphin homebred East Avenue, who resided in a different class at age 2 than this group. The Lecomte horses must run faster to take that kind of heat.
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