LA Bound: KY Horse & Teams

Mission Impazible, 2011 New Orleans Handicap and 2010 Louisiana Derby champ, will make an historic, blue-and-white bid to defend his Handicap title at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Sunday.

“I have my eyes set on the GII New Orleans Handicap in New Orleans on April 1st during the Final Four Weekend! Did I mention that I was born in Lexington Kentucky and I bleed BLUE!” Mission Impazible said on his Facebook page.

Fair Grounds stewards gave special permission for jockey Javier Castellano to don blue-and-white, University of Kentucky-logoed, “On A Mission”-emblazoned silks for Randy Gullatt and Steve Davidson’s Versailles, Ky.-based Twin Creeks Racing Stables.

The University of Kentucky Wildcats are headed to New Orleans in a bid against fierce rivals the Louisville Cardinals in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.

Randy Gullatt told Claire Novak: “We thought New Orleans was a perfect situation with all the UK fans going over there to say, ‘Hey, you’re making a bid at history and so are we.’ Hopefully we can pick up a bunch of new fans while he’s running at a track we know he does well on.”

Mission Impazible’s hoping to make history as the first horse to top consecutive New Orleans Handicaps after winning the Louisiana Derby.

For Mission Impazible’s sake, may the Wildcats win—their game against Lousiville is Saturday night, while the New Orleans Handicap runs Sunday.

[Read Claire Novak’s full report here]

Go Kentucky.