Outsprinted early and fanned exceptionally large coming into the lengthy Truthful Grounds stretch, Disco Time discovered his groove and rallied from tenth in a area of 13 to outkick Gun Runner Stakes winner Constructed by a neck to win the $250,000 Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes for 3-year-olds Jan. 18 at Truthful Grounds.
Disco Time completed the 1 1/16-mile Lecomte on a sealed sloppy monitor in 1:47.07. The time was greater than two seconds slower than Hit Present‘s successful time of 1:44.91 going the identical distance a half-hour earlier within the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes offered by Relyne GI by Hagyard for older horses.
Saturday’s victory stored Disco Time’s report excellent in three profession begins after two earlier wins in Kentucky in one-turn races the place he had been a lot nearer to the early tempo.
Successful jockey Florent Geroux stated Disco Time’s journey was not how he envisioned however remarked that he was “more than happy with the horse. I felt like I misplaced a bit of little bit of floor with the runner-up. I felt like he had a bit of little bit of a greater journey than mine, however my horse was at all times capable of overcome it and proved he was the most effective horse in the present day.”
Tempo-setting Innovator established the lead in fractions of :23.68, :47.91, and 1:13.38 within the Lecomte. Within the late going, Constructed inched previous Innovator till each have been overtaken by Disco Time nearing the wire. Innovator completed third. Golden Afternoon was fourth and Most Promise ran fifth.
The highest 5 finishers obtained qualifying factors towards the Kentucky Derby offered by Woodford Reserve on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. Disco Time earned 20 factors and Constructed earned 10 to associate with the ten factors he earned for his earlier win within the Gun Runner Stakes. The 20 factors for Disco Time and Constructed rank them third and fourth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, trailing Citizen Bull (40 factors) and Coal Battle, who additionally has 20 factors however holds second place as a consequence of increased non-restricted stakes earnings. Disco Time has higher non-restricted earnings than Constructed.
Talking of Disco Time and Saturday’s race, coach Brad Cox stated, “Look, I really like pace, and clearly in the event that they’re quick sufficient to get there after which maintain going, they will separate themselves. However you realize, for this horse at this level in his profession, I assumed it was a terrific steppingstone ahead.”
In 2021, coach Cox campaigned a proficient 3-year-old at Truthful Grounds after the colt gained his first two begins as a juvenile in Kentucky identical to Disco Time. That sophomore, Mandaloun, would later be declared the winner of that yr’s Kentucky Derby by way of disqualification after having completed third within the 2021 Lecomte.
Now, 4 years later, Cox, homeowners Juddmonte, and Mandaloun’s common jockey Geroux discover themselves again on the Street to the Kentucky Derby in Louisiana once more with Disco Time, one other Juddmonte homebred colt.
The Lecomte sometimes serves as a steppingstone to the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes, a $500,000 race scheduled at Truthful Grounds on Feb. 15. Cox has gained the Risen Star 3 times, together with with Mandaloun in 2021. The coach is now a two-time winner of the Lecomte.
