He’s 10-1 on the morning line in a listed stakes race, so it’s fair to say that Reagan’s Wit has largely been forgotten.
That’s not so surprising. Reagan’s Wit never won a graded stakes and ended his 3-year-old campaign with a whimper, finishing sixth July 4 in the Manila Stakes at Saratoga.
Reagan’s Wit came out of the Manila with a bone chip in his ankle and makes his first start since in Saturday’s $100,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley at Fair Grounds.
A year ago at Fair Grounds, Reagan’s Wit in his second race revealed vast potential, closing from 10th to win a turf-route maiden by eight lengths, that despite lugging in through the homestretch and generally racing greenly.
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Reagan’s Wit in his next start just missed defeating the high-class Zulu Kingdom in the Columbia at Tampa Bay Downs. His fourth-place finish as the favorite in the Transylvania at Keeneland came with a less than ideal trip and was followed by an eye-catching score in the James Murphy at Pimlico.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux said Reagan’s Wit has matured physically in all the ways connections hoped, though he continues marching to the beat of his own drummer.
“He is a little bit of a cheeky horse – just feels really good. He looks for reasons to get himself in trouble when galloping. But physically he has improved a ton,” DeVaux said.
DeVaux said her barn doesn’t push Reagan’s Wit too hard during training, trying to keep him mentally on track. Nonetheless, she is not merely using Saturday’s race as prep for turf stakes later this winter.
“We’ll see, but he acts ready,” she said.
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