Guest Suite

GUEST SUITE (g, Quality Road—Guest House, by Ghostzapper)

O-W. S. Farish & Lora Jean Kilroy. B-W. S. Farish & Kilroy Thoroughbred Partnership (KY). T-Neil Howard. Lifetime Record: GSW, 6-3-0-2, $219,840.

Mar. 14 TDN Top 12 Rank: N/A

Last Start: 4th, GII Risen Star S., FG, Feb. 25

Accomplishments Include: 1st, GIII Lecomte S., FG, Jan. 21

Next Start: GII Louisiana Derby, FG, Apr. 1

Thoro-Graph sheet, Equineline PPs

KY Derby Points: 15

As mentioned a touch higher up in the rankings, a fast pace in Saturday's Louisiana Derby will benefit Girvin. But it could benefit a gelding like Guest Suite even more. Call it what you want–a “comeback race” or a “confidence booster”–but Guest Suite is in need of some sort of turnaround that shows he can move forward off of the fairly well established form he capably displayed back in autumn and early winter. Not even trainer Howard seems to know why Guest Suite threw in an inexplicable clunker in the Risen Star S. (a catchy malady that's plagued numerous top 3-year-olds so far this season), but the recipe is there for a rebound on Saturday, and the main ingredients are 1) The fact that Guest Suite already has five races longer than a mile under his belt; 2) He's shown an ability to level off fluidly when set down for the drive; 3) Guest Suite has already proven he can put away one set of rivals turning for home while having enough left in the tank to hold off fresh challengers in the shadow of the wire (watch the replay of his Lecomte S. win).

VIDEO PPS