The new Callide Valley

The name of one of the Lecomte runners may sound familiar to longtime Fair Grounds fans. Callide Valley, who races for the stable of Gary and Mary West, broke his maiden at Saratoga and won a first-level allowance at Churchill Downs. Callide Valley was also the name of a stakes-winning sprinter who raced for Gary and Mary West in the early 1990s. The earlier Callide Valley was quite successful at Fair Grounds, where he won the Pelleteri Handicap, Colonel Power Stakes, and the Thanksgiving Handicap. While it is not unusual to see names of stakes winning horses reused, it is unusual to see them reused by the same owners. Callide Valley won the Churchill Downs Handicap on the undercard of the 1993 Kentucky Derby. By entering the new Callide Valley in the Lecomte, the Wests are hoping he also has success at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, but this time in the main event.