Pappacap Kicks Off 3-Year-Old Season in Lecomte

Trainer Mark Casse hates to play catch-up, especially with a newly turned 3-year-old.

So, at a time when the other top four finishers in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) have yet to start their 3-year-old campaign, Casse will get the jump on them with runner-up Pappacap .

Following a path he traveled with 2019 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War of Will  , Casse will send out Rustlewood Farm's homebred Pappacap to face stakes-winning Epicenter  and seven other rivals Jan. 22 in the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

"I prefer to get my 3-year-olds running," the Hall of Fame trainer said about entering the grade 2 winner in the 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds. "We run these horses in the fall and then we give them a break and then you're playing catch-up. I don't want to play catch-up because if you have a little setback, you're in trouble."

A member of the stellar first crop from the stallion Gun Runner  , Pappacap finished second twice to likely 2-year-old champion Corniche  during a promising and highly productive juvenile season that currently has him atop the Leaderboard in the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) series with 12 points.

The Florida-bred raced five times at 2, including three starts in grade 1s, and posted a win in the Best Pal Stakes (G2) at Del Mar. Yet his best efforts were probably in his two tries around two turns when he was second by 3 1/4 lengths to Corniche in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) and when 1 3/4 lengths behind the Bob Baffert-trained runner in the Juvenile.

"I think he had an even better 2-year-old season than it looks," Casse said. "I strive to get races into them and I think that's going to be important down the road."

After running in the Nov. 5 Juvenile, Pappacap was given a few weeks off and logged his first timed work Dec. 10. He has put in four works at Fair Grounds in preparation for his 2022 debut and appears to be coming up to Saturday's race in top condition.

"We're definitely excited about getting him going," Casse said. "He's doing extremely well. I think he's grown up and he's a much better horse than he was in the fall. I don't think you could ask him to train any better."

Though the produce of the Scat Daddy mare Pappascat  raced four times on the West Coast last year, Casse chose a familiar route for his colt's travels through the Triple Crown preps.

"I've had pretty good luck at Fair Grounds," said Casse, who won the 2020 and 2019 editions of the Lecomte. "We have (assistant trainer) David Carroll there for us and I think it's a good place. It suits him. He's a horse that wants to settle a little, and that track will suit him."

Casse said Pappacap is likely to remain at Fair Grounds for the Feb. 19 Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) and March 26 TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) to complete his preparations for what will hopefully be a start in the Run for the Roses.

Pappacap is the third foal to race from Pappascat and her third winner. She also has a 2-year-old Bolt d'Oro   colt who was bought by John Oxley and Breeze Easy for $190,000 from the Summerfield consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and a yearling Omaha Beach   colt.

Though the Lecomte offers only 17 points to the top four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 scale, a victory would have added significance for Pappacap. Should he collect the top prize, it would give him 22 points, which was good for the 18th spot among the 20 entrants in the 2021 Run for the Roses.

Pappacap's main rival Saturday, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter, already has 10 of them after winning the Dec. 26 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Video: Gun Runner S. (BT)

The son of Not This Time   romped by 6 1/2 lengths in the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner for trainer Steve Asmussen, a three-time Lecomte winner who most recently won last year's renewal with Midnight Bourbon . Bought for $260,000 from the Bettersworth Westwind Farms consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the produce of the Candy Ride   mare Silent Candy  has won two of his three career starts.

He is the sixth foal from his dam and her first stakes winner.

The Lecomte also features the stakes debut of some promising allowance and maiden winners in Columbine Stable's Trafalgar  (Lord Nelson ), Gold Square's Cyberknife  (Gun Runner), and Courtlandt Farms' Presidential  (Pioneerof the Nile ).

Trainer Dallas Stewart will send out a pair of starters in the undefeated Louisiana-bred multiple stakes winner Unified Report  (Unified  ) and stakes-placed Surfer Dude  (Curlin  ).

Entries: Lecomte S. (G3)

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Saturday, January 22, 2022, Race 14

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo
• 6:20 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Surfer Dude (KY)	Reylu Gutierrez	122	Dallas Stewart	15/1
2	2Unified Report (LA)	Corey J. Lanerie	122	Dallas Stewart	15/1
3	3Pappacap (FL)	Joe Bravo	122	Mark E. Casse	8/5
4	4Trafalgar (KY)	Colby J. Hernandez	122	Albert M. Stall, Jr.	5/1
5	5Epicenter (KY)	Joel Rosario	122	Steven M. Asmussen	9/5
6	6Cyberknife (KY)	Florent Geroux	122	Brad H. Cox	6/1
7	7Blue Kentucky (KY)	Jareth Loveberry	122	Wayne M. Catalano	20/1
8	8Call Me Midnight (KY)	James Graham	122	J. Keith Desormeaux	20/1
9	9Presidential (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	122	Steven M. Asmussen	20/1