Champions set to return after long layoffs

The best time to beat a great horse is off a long layoff. We’ll test that axiom Saturday as champions Lookin At Lucky, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta return to the races.

Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta will be the center of attention as they’ll run in their only prep race before meeting in the $5 million Apple Blossom on April 9 at Oaklawn Park.

Rachel Alexandra will face four overmatched foes in the New Orleans Ladies at the Fair Grounds. The Horse of the Year has not run in six months. John Shirreffs, trainer of Zenyatta, has shipped third-string mare Zardana for the Ladies to use as a barometer.

Zenyatta puts her 14-race unbeaten record on the line in the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita. She has not run in four months since a bravura performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic over males.

Finally, in a race with Kentucky Derby implications, Lookin At Lucky will make his dirt debut in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park. He has been freshened for three months. If he improves on dirt as much as trainer Bob Baffert thinks he will, he will solidify his role as the Derby favorite.

These three stakes can be seen on HRTV in a 50-minute window on Saturday at 2:47 p.m.

■ LOYALTY WANES — Two weeks ago I wrote about the lack of loyalty in horse racing. As if on cue, top jockey Joel Rosario fired his agent, Vic Stauffer, who also works as the track announcer at Hollywood Park.

Stauffer, with Rosario’s blessing, had just picked up the book of Martin Garcia. Garcia has had great success lately riding for Baffert.

The final straw between Rosario and Stauffer apparently came after Garcia won the Santa Anita Handicap on the Baffert-trained Misremembered. That’s the thanks Stauffer got for putting Rosario on the Big Cap favorite St. Trinians, who finished out of the money.

This might say more about Rosario than Stauffer. Before Stauffer, the jockey had fired legendary agent Vince DeGregory after he had put him on the map in Southern California.

■ LOCAL TOURNAMENTS — In April, two terrific big-money handicapping tournaments will be in Las Vegas. The Championship at The Orleans will be April 8 to 10, and Pick The Ponies will be at the Las Vegas Hilton from April 28 to 30.

■ SOUTH POINT — The South Point Six progressive carry-over was not won Thursday. The contest carry-over has grown to $10,100.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.