Almost Famous back on track to stardom

A couple of weeks can make an enormous

difference in the life and career of a young horse, and Chuck and Maribeth

Sandford's Almost Famous is a vivid illustration of that fact.

Just two weeks ago, trainer Pat Byrne was at a complete

loss to explain a dull fourth-place run by the son of Unbridled's Song in the

Street Sense Stakes, a one-mile overnight stakes for two-year-olds that was

the co-featured event on the "Stars of Tomorrow I" program on the opening day of

the Churchill Downs Fall Meet.

A $500,000 purchase by the Sanfords at the Fasig-Tipton

Florida two-year-old sale in March, Almost Famous had dazzled in his in September

debut at Churchill Downs. Coastline, the runner-up that day, soundly whipped

Byrne's colt in their rematch.

After hours of pondering, Byrne concluded that he had "babied" the colt in

the weeks leading up to the Street Sense and decided to tighten the screws on

Almost Famous. He gave him one day of rest, outfitted the colt with blinkers for

his gallops and worked him out of the starting gate with those blinkers in a

sharp time of :35 2/5 on November 2.

Byrne's tactics were validated Saturday when Almost Famous

returned on just two weeks rest and rolled to an easy front-running victory over

a promising group of young rivals in a

1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming

race, the colt's first test at a two-turn distance. The margin under jockey

Corey Lanerie was six lengths in a winning time of 1:44 4/5 over a fast surface.

"He came out of the race super good and he ate-up quick

last night," Byrne said. "It was easy for him. There's no doubt he's got a lot

of talent."

The official Equibase chart noted that Almost Famous

"hopped" at the start from his rail post. But he quickly gathered himself under

Lanerie and galloped to the lead. At that point, the race was essentially over

and he drew off easily in the stretch.