The $75,000 Scott’s Scoundrel serves as a prep race for the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic next month at Fair Grounds, but there have been plenty of Champions Day Classics with lesser fields than the Scott’s Scoundrel’s. The Scott’s Scoundrel, for Louisiana-bred 3-year-olds and up over a mile and 70 yards on dirt, drew a wildly competitive field of 11, including the two-time Classic winner Grand Luwegee. Grand Luwegee won last year’s Classic making the second start of his form cycle following a third-place finish in a seven-furlong race at Delta Downs, and comes into the Scott’s Scoundrel with the same pattern. But it’s Who Took the Money who is all but certain to be favored in the Scott’s Scoundrel. The Scott’s Scoundrel is carded as the seventh of nine races on the second day of Fair Grounds season and is the second of three Louisiana-bred stakes on the program. The Joseph R. Peluso for 2-year-old sprinters goes as race 5, the Monte Man for 3-year-old and up sprinters as race 8. But both take a backseat to the Scott’s Scoundrel. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Who Took the Money, a 4-year-old trained by Bret Calhoun, won the Crescent City Derby on dirt in March 2021. But on the 2021 Champions Day card last December, he started in the $100,000 Turf rather than the Classic. That worked fine, with Who Took the Money closing furiously from the back of the field into a moderate tempo to win the Turf by nearly six lengths. He followed up that performance with a Louisiana-bred turf route allowance win later in the meet. Who Took the Money in his last three starts showed he doesn’t need turf to produce top form. In March, he nearly overcame a very tough trip finishing third in the Star Guitar Stakes at Fair Grounds, and then won the Evangeline Downs Classic on May 7. Who Took the Money didn’t start again until Oct. 8, when he roared to a blowout score in the $100,000 Gold Cup over seven furlongs at Delta. That race produced a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure and means Who Took the Money will take all kinds of money in the Scott’s Scoundrel, but there are reasons to oppose him at a short price. First, the Classic and a purse twice Saturday’s looms only a month away. That race surely is the major goal, and on Saturday, Who Took the Money has to break from post 10 while carrying 124 pounds, giving weight to all his rivals. The Classic is run at a nine-furlong distance that clearly suits Grand Luwegee, who should perform better next month than in the Scott’s Scoundrel, and the play here is Behemah Star. Trained by Jose Camejo for his breeder, Brittyln Stable, Behemah Star overcame post 11 to win the Star Guitar over Who Took the Money last March, his third win from four Fair Grounds dirt races. Over the summer, he twice tried turf, which isn’t his preferred surface, and in his other start faced open stakes competition. Camejo adds blinkers to Behemah Star for the Scott’s Scoundrel, and Behemah Star breaks from a better post, 2, than Who Took the Money and gets six pounds from the favorite. Camejo has the horse to beat in the 5 1/2-furlong Peluso in Late September, who proved he was more than merely a precocious 2-year-old with a nice win Oct. 15 in the $100,000 Louisiana Legacy at Delta. There, Late September won by one length despite being caught four paths wide on the first of two turns, confidently fending off a challenge from fellow Peluso entrant Kings Lute, who also runs in the Peluso. Late September early this year won an open maiden sprint at Churchill Downs and finished 17th in June making an ambitious trip to England for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Not On Herb looks best among three debut winners making their second start in the Peluso. Showing speed Oct. 7 at Delta, Not On Herb smoked nine Louisiana maidens in a five-furlong dash. To close the stakes action, consider closer Unified Report in the six-furlong Monte Man, which appears to be overloaded with pace factors, one of whom is likely favorite Bertie’s Galaxy. Bertie’s Galaxy was second last December in the Champions Day Sprint, beaten by the horse for whom Saturday’s race is named, but he’s a confirmed front-runner drawn inside a bunch of other speed. Unified Report won the Champions Day Juvenile last December and an open first-level allowance race in March before going over the top against some tough competition. Trainer Dallas Stewart brought the colt back to action this fall in a pair of Kentucky turf sprints, where Unified Report performed well enough to suggest he can win the Monte Man with a move forward switching back to dirt. l101