Fair Grounds Recap – Dec 20th
Fast main track and yielding turf course. Late runners enjoyed plenty of success on both surfaces.
Victor Lebron and Shane Sellers both booted home a pair. Helen Pitts saddled two winners on the card.
Horse for course Good And Lucky rallied for the win in the 45th running of the Tenacious Handicap. Shane Sellers rode the winner for Josie Carroll.
A couple of decent 3yo’s ran in the optional claiming 10th, and Indiana Derby also-ran Fundy got back on track with an off the pace neck tally. Flying Pegasus made a nice move to grad the lead in …read more

There are no less than four Saturday Derby preps on tap, and each day this week I will preview one, starting with the Louisiana Derby.

I liked Patena in the Lecomte, and he ran on nicely to land the place in his initial try over conventional dirt. My Derby future (pool 1) play was subsequently purchased by IEAH and is now trained by Rick Dutrow, the same connections that brought us Big Brown last year. Well bred $250k Keeneland sales grad drilled a bullet at the Gulf on March 9th and figures to fire a big shot off the layoff under …read more

I Want Revenge uncorked a 113 BSF en route to a romping Gotham Stakes (G3) tally (replay below) while trying conventional dirt for the first time. He showed quality on synthetic, and his connections (Mullins/Talamo) were spot-on in saying he would move up on dirt. He will ship back to his Hollywood Park base before returning to the Big A for the Wood Memorial on April 4th.
Imperial Council ran a quality race to grab the place in his first start around two turns. If you like Shug’s well bred colt, don’t give up on him because the …read more

Friday (2-6-09) Fair Grounds recap
Main track favored speed as the day wore on. Both turf sprints were nabbed by early/pressing types, and the flat mile turf feature was nabbed by a longshot stalker.
James Graham, Miguel Mena and Jamie Theriot each booted home a pair. Bret Calhoun and Eric Guillot both saddled two winners on the day.

Saturday (2-7-09) Fair Grounds recap
Both surfaces seemed to play fair.
Hat trick for Gabriel Saez included a pair of stakes wins for Larry Jones. John Jacinto booted home a pair, and Briggy/Asmussen teamed up two wins on the day.
Pan Zareta …read more

A field of 13 is set to tackle Saturday’s Grade 3 Risen Star at Fair Grounds, the final local prep for the Louisiana Derby (G2).

Indygo Mountain (A. P. Indy) rates a shot to rebound at a price. Bret Calhoun trainee was sensational in his Nov. ‘08 Churchill maiden breaker, then the wheels fell off the cart. Foot issues caused him to be scratched at the gate before a local allowance race in December, and he experienced a troubled beginning when resurfacing in the Lecomte. $600k Keeneland sales grad shows a strong 5f work for this and can right the …read more