Classy Act set to make name for herself in Oaks

Classy Act was just less than 6-1 odds when she won a firstlevel allowance race Jan. 19 at Fair Grounds and just more than 5-1 when she finished a fine second to Monomoy Girl in the Feb. 17 Rachel Alexandra Stakes, but the filly just might be favored Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks.

That’s partly a function of a shallow 3-year-old filly division, but also has much to do with the strong progress Classy Act has made over the winter for trainer Bret Calhoun. On Sunday, Classy Act put the finishing touches on her major preparation for the Fair Grounds Oaks when she worked a swift halfmile in 47.80 seconds, the thirdfastest among 91 works at the distance that day.

“It was a little quicker than I would’ve liked, but she was well within herself and galloped out well,” Calhoun said. “She was on cruise control early and really came home well. The last part of it, she was so quick, and the way she did it was absolutely perfect.”

Classy Act showed her connections talent from the start but needed four tries to win a maiden race and finally did on turf. The maiden win coincided with the addition of blinkers, but Classy Act, who is by Into Mischief and out of the Distorted Humor mare Acting Class, also has started to grow up and grasp what’s being asked of her. Classy Act, Calhoun said, used to work modestly without company, but now she focuses and works strongly without a companion horse to hold her interest.

Classy Act drew post 1 for the Oaks, not ideal but manageable.

“It’s definitely not where I’d have chosen, but she’s fast,” Calhoun said. “She’ll be up there.”

Calhoun’s second Oaks entrant, Patrona Margarita, is not without hope. She finished fourth in the Rachel Alexandra, her first start in five months, and has a right to improve Saturday. Patrona Margarita also worked Sunday, going a half-mile in 48.60.

Synchrony looking strong

No horse ran better on the Feb. 17 Risen Star card than Synchrony, a chestnut blur flying through the Fair Grounds homestretch en route to a two-length victory over the highly regarded Mr. Misunderstood in the Fair Grounds Handicap. The eye-catching performance came in Synchrony’s first start in almost nine months, a circumstance that could have both negative and positive implications.

On the one hand, Synchrony, with only 11 starts, could be on the cusp of a very meaningful 5-year-old campaign. On the other, one might fear regression when Synchrony returns to action Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Mervin Muniz Handicap.

But if Synchrony has felt the effects of the career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure the Fair Grounds Handicap produced, trainer Mike Stidham hasn’t seen it. On Sunday, Synchrony breezed a half-mile on dirt in 51.40.

“Not at all,” Stidham said when asked if his horse was showing any signs of reacting to his big race. “He’s had three really good works. This morning, he just went easy; the track was a little dead. He finished up good, and we’re very pleased with him.”

Synchrony will have to run at least as well in the Muniz as he did in the Fair Grounds Handicap to win again. The Muniz came up with a deep field, including five capable shippers

from South Florida, including Forge, Ring Weekend, and Lucullan.

Meanwhile, the Stidhamtrained 3-year-old Supreme Aura will cut back to a sprint from a route for the six-furlong $150,000 Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 12. Supreme Aura won his debut last summer at Delaware Park and his second start, a Fair Grounds sprint allowance race, before finishing last of nine in the Risen Star, his first twoturn try. He has since worked three times, including a halfmile in 49 seconds last Saturday.

“I definitely think the horse wants to sprint,” Stidham said. “I was hoping I was wrong about that, but I wasn’t.”

Jockey agent Lenny Pike dies

Lenny Pike Jr., a longtime jockey agent who endeared himself to horsemen and racetrack personnel throughout the United States, was found dead Saturday morning by police in his second-floor condominium in Metairie, La. He was 59.

Pike was best known for his lengthy tenure as the agent for Robby Albarado, a 2018 Hall of Fame nominee who was the regular rider of two Horse of the Year recipients, Mineshaft (2003) and Curlin (2007-08). Pike had worked most recently for Corey Lanerie, the perennial leading jockey at Churchill Downs and one of the top riders at the current meet at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

A racetrack colleague who lived in the same building as Pike said his car had not left the premises for several days when officials were called Saturday to check on him. Another colleague said Pike had been troubled in recent weeks while referencing his history of problems with substance abuse.

Pike was an only child whose father, Lenny Sr., was a horsemen’s representative in their hometown of Chicago prior to his death in the late 1990s. The younger Pike became an agent at a young age and went on to work mostly in Chicago, Kentucky, and Louisiana, although his reach and travels were even broader, given the transitive nature of the racing business and his many years of employment for top jockeys.

Pike began working with Albarado in Chicago and Kentucky in 1994 and was his agent for the vast majority of a career during which the jockey has accumulated more than $214 million in mount earnings.

“Lenny was one of the best agents you’ll ever find,” said his friend and fellow agent, Dennis Cooper, who has traveled the same racing circuits as Pike since the mid-1980s.

Pike’s mother died last year, sending him into “a dark place,” Cooper said. “It’s a very sad situation. I can’t hardly talk about it. We were too close.”

Pike was married and divorced twice and had no children. Cooper said he knows of no immediate survivors and was unsure who would be responsible for Pike’s estate or who will be privy to further information on the circumstances of his death.

◗ Good luck with the featured eighth race Wednesday. The second-level turf-sprint allowance with a $40,000 claiming option is next to impossible to figure. Belgian is listed as the 7-2 favorite and has looked good in two races since being turned back from routes to sprints, but he is up in class with no real edge on several others in a very tricky feature.