The vast majority of early Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifiers award points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis to the top five finishers. On Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the stakes will double to 20-10-6-4-2 points for the $250,000 Lecomte (G3).
The 1 1/16-mile race is the first in a series of mid-tier Kentucky Derby preps running through February. With twice as many points on the line, the 2026 Lecomte has understandably drawn a deep field. Proven stakes winners are few and far between, but a bevy of promising maiden winners add depth to the 11-horse lineup.
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Saturday, January 17, 2026, Race 13Entries: Lecomte S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Quality Mischief (KY) Marcelino Pedroza, Jr. 122 Brad H. Cox 10/1 2 2Carson Street (KY) Axel Concepcion 122 Brendan P. Walsh 8/1 3 3Crown the Buckeye (OH) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 122 Michael J. Maker 4/1 4 4Exosome (KY) Jareth Loveberry 122 Kelsey Danner 20/1 5 5Golden Tempo (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Cherie DeVaux 8/1 6 6Thunder Buck (KY) Luis Saez 122 Brad H. Cox 6/1 7 7Mesquite (KY) Flavien Prat 122 Cherie DeVaux 8/1 8 8White Tiger (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Brad H. Cox 8/1 9 9Ocelli (KY) Joseph D. Ramos 122 D. Whitworth Beckman 12/1 10 10Stop the Car (KY) Ben Curtis 122 Brendan P. Walsh 8/1 11 11Chip Honcho (KY) Paco Lopez 122 Steven M. Asmussen 9/2
The slim morning-line favorite is #3 Crown the Buckeye (4-1). The talented Ohio-bred usually sets the pace, but has shown versatility in terms of running style, rallying from seventh place to win the 1 1/16-mile Best of Ohio Juvenile S. by 4 1/4 lengths.
The problem is, Crown the Buckeye lost his first start outside of the Ohio-bred ranks. In the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner S., a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier held at Fair Grounds last month, Crown the Buckeye carved out the pace before tiring in the final furlong to finish third, beaten three-quarters of a length by #11 Chip Honcho (9-2).
You can argue Crown the Buckeye set too fast of a pace in the Gun Runner. His fractions of :23.62, :46.66, and 1:10.98 were fast for Fair Grounds; for comparison, fillies posted splits of :24.67, :48.08, and 1:12.58 in the Untapable S. one race earlier on the card.
But on the other hand, the victorious Chip Honcho was never more than one length behind Crown the Buckeye's testing pace, and every Gun Runner entrant was decelerating down the homestretch--the final five-sixteenths of a mile elapsed in a slow :33.78. Despite the fast early pace, Chip Honcho's winning time of 1:44.76 was substantially slower than the 1:42.97 clocking from the Untapable.
As a result, I'm a bit skeptical of all the horses exiting the Gun Runner, including fourth-place runner #1 Quality Mischief (10-1), who finished only a neck behind Crown the Buckeye.
Instead, I'm siding with one of the up-and-coming maiden winners: #5 Golden Tempo (8-1).
Golden Tempo is a son of two-time Horse of the Year and renowned stamina influence Curlin out of Carrumba, a daughter of champion three-year-old male Bernardini. Both Curlin and Bernardini won the 1 3/16-mile Preakness (G1), and Carrumba showed stamina when prevailing in the 1 1/8-mile Top Flight Invitational H. (G3).
Any way you slice it, Golden Tempo is bred to peak at age three (or older) and thrive over distances from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/4 miles. But in complete defiance of his lineage, the bay colt won his debut dashing a mere six furlongs on Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds--the same day as the Gun Runner S.
Golden Tempo broke slowly and trailed a 10-horse field by 9 1/4 lengths through an opening quarter-mile in :22.18. As the leader ran half a mile in :45.90, Golden Tempo still trailed by seven lengths. But then, with a remarkable turn-of-foot, Golden Tempo blazed his final quarter in :23.67 (despite shifting around a tiring rival in the homestretch) to pass nine horses and triumph by 1 1/2 lengths.
Golden Tempo hit the wire in a respectable 1:10.66 and appeared to be just getting started. I'm optimistic he'll take a big step forward while stretching out around two turns in the Lecomte. According to Brisnet statistics, trainer Cherie DeVaux wins at a 24% rate with horses running long for the first time.
Throw in the presence of Fair Grounds' top jockey Jose Ortiz (a 30% winner this meet), and Golden Tempo is a compelling win candidate. I'm crossing my fingers that his 8-1 morning-line odds hold up.
Beyond Golden Tempo, I also respect a couple of maiden winners trained by Brad Cox, who has won two of the last three editions of the Lecomte with Instant Coffee (2023) and Disco Time (2025).
First, check out #6 Thunder Buck (6-1). Half an hour after Chip Honcho clocked 1:44.76 in the Gun Runner, Thunder Buck won a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight at Fair Grounds in 1:44.83, even though Thunder Buck was closing into much slower pace fractions of :24.00, :47.72, and 1:12.80. Thunder Buck's strong finish suggests he'll be a player even while stepping up in class for the Lecomte.
#8 White Tiger (8-1) is the other Cox trainee I have my eye on. The gray colt has been freshened since wiring a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight at Churchill Downs in October. Five workouts over the slow training track at Payson Park since December should have White Tiger fit for a competitive return under five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
Selections
1st: Golden Tempo
2nd: Thunder Buck
3rd: White Tiger
Now it's your turn! Who do you like in the Lecomte?
*****
Want to test your handicapping skills against fellow Unlocking Winners readers? Check out the Unlocking Winners contests page. There's a new challenge every week!
