Trainer familiar with trail for Unknown Road

By: SPORTS NETWORK

New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Trainer Al Stall Jr. has another possible Kentucky Derby contender in his barn.

Stall, who trained 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Blame, has 2-year-old Unknown Road in his charge and ready for a Kentucky Derby run. Owned by JMJ Racing Stables, Unknown Road won in his second start this past Thursday by just under 12 lengths in a time of 1:10.91 for six furlongs.

"That was exciting. We were very pleased with his race, yesterday," Stall said.

This past year, Stall had Departing on the Triple Crown trail with the 3-year- old third in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and winning the Illinois Derby.

The trainer is now looking to have Unknown Road hit the trail leading to the Run for the Roses.

"We'll probably now start looking at the Lecomte," said Stall. "His breeding certainly suggests he'll be better at two turns. Also, he's an early bird nomination to the Louisiana Derby, so we'll just have to see how everything goes from here."

The 2-year-old is a son of 2006 Eclipse Award winner Bernardini who won the Preakness Stakes that year after Barbaro suffered a career ending injury at the start of the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.

Unknown Road was second in his debut effort at Aqueduct on Nov. 9 beaten less than a length with Jose Ortiz riding. Shaun Bridgmohan had the winning mount Thursday.

The Lecomte goes off at Fair Grounds on Saturday, Jan. 18 and the $1 million Louisiana Derby will be run on Saturday, March 29.