Thursday (September 4th)
Muddy main track and off the turf. No less than 6 wire jobs in a card dominated by early/pressing types. Inside lanes appeared best, especially earlier in the card.

Love Chamonix (race 2 fav) threw a fit inside the gate and was a late scratch. Force Command Usmc (race 6) rallied smartly to land the place as my 2nd choice at almost 35-1. This one clearly likes the LAD oval and is an off the pace threat next time as well. Not a bad off the pace show finish for fav Where’s Joe (race 7). She is capable of graduating in the MSW ranks over a fair surface. Ain’t He A Pistol (race 9) ran a winning race in the optional claiming sprint feature, but his late rally fell a head short over a speed conducive oval.

Jacinto, Simington, and PVal each booted home a pair.

Friday (September 5th)

Fast main track and off the turf. Five more wire jobs in another card dominated by early/pressing types.

Spruce Jr. (race 7) rallied against the bias to land his usual share. Fast And Steady sat the right trip in route to a hard fought victory over my 5-1 top Fly For Fun, who might have won if the track had been playing fair. Smoothcideup (race rallied to finish a clear 2nd behind impressive wire job 2nd timer fav Milwaukee Miracle. The former should graduate soon. Jake The Cat was bothered at the start and was hung out 5-wide in an 11th place finish. He is much better than that. Above The Fold was hung out to dry from 12-hole.

A pair of wins for apprentice Dustin Dugas, and trainer John Locke saddled two winners as well. Charles Hukill has had a tough time finding the winners’ circle here, but he saddled a winner on back-to-back days.

Saturday (September 6th)
Fast track and off the turf, and it was all about early/pressing types on the main.
Winter Hot Flash broke slow in the opener. PVal rushed up the inside to grab the early advantage through a 22.38 opening quarter. She slowly inched away but was caught by stalking type Hate To Wait. She was a likely wire job winner with an alert beginning. PVal got his revenge in the 2nd with the consistent Roll On Roll On for leading trainer Jorge Lara. Dyna’s Greeley was a sharp debut winner in the 3rd for Cecil Borel, and fellow Asmussen firster Lauren P. was well clear of the rest in 2nd. For the 2nd straight time, 1-2 fav Bebopping Man refused to break. Save your money on this one until he cures his bad gate habits. Lee’s Spirit became the 3rd top 3 member of the LA Breeders’ Derby to win a stakes race in his next start. He grabbed today’s Red Erwin, while Derby winner Star Production came back to nab the Prelude, and place finisher Id Like A Double took down the Evangeline Mile.

Hat trick for resurgent leading rider Don Simington. Francisco Torres won race 4 but was involved in a spill when his 5th race mount Shecando clipped heels turning for home. He took off his remaining mounts and was off again on Sunday. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery. Jorge Lara saddled a pair of winners.

Sunday (September 7th)

Fast track and off the turf. Early/pressing types dominated on the main.

Two Nickel Bud smartly nabbed the opener, making trainer Jerry Cart 3-9 first blinkers. Pace scenario changed with the gate scratch of Key Lee in the 3rd. Wire job winner Skirting Disaster ($27.60) was the major beneficiary, while off the pace show finisher Opportunity Lost was compromised. Heavy fav All Star Chris (race 9) was grinding away but could not reel in 0-22 professional maiden Leona’s Sweetboy.

Two more wins on Sunday for leading rider Don Simington, and his 8 wins this week lead all riders. Donnie Meche booted home 5 this week. 4 winners on the week for the surging PVal, who moved into 10th place in the standings. Recently hot leading trainer Jorge Lara pulled off the hat trick on Sunday, giving him 5 wins this week and 7 in the last 5 racing days.

Post from: Thoroughbred Fever

by Jarrod Horak (Harrah’s Louisiana Downs Track Handicapper/TV Host)

We were on a Friday-Monday Labor Day schedule this week. I got a couple of best bets home in an uneventful first three days of the week, then I caught fire with 4 on-top winners (race 3, 4, 7, and a couple of trifectas (race 2, 6) on Labor Day Monday.

August 29th

A trio of wire jobs on the main and 1 on the turf, but both surfaces played fair throughout the day. Turf rail at 20 feet this week.

Royal Madame (race 2) stole her 2nd straight turf victory over Tortuga Flats, and her connections came up to me and gave me a good ribbing for not picking her…LOL! Expect more of the same if they keep letting her go early.

Donnie Meche continues to tear up the grass course, and he put June Afternoon (race 4) in the perfect spot before pouncing on fav Mane Man in the lane.
Taylor’slilbrother came out of the clouds to win the 8th going away under PVal. Classic Mirage and Poppy’s Li’l Girl both turned in winning performances in the grassy 9th, with the former rallying strongly through traffic and the latter closing outside of pacesetter Sefas Belle (drifted out stretch).

A pair of wins for John Jacinto and Francisco Torres. Bret Calhoun saddled back-to-back winners on the card (race 5-6).

August 30th
Both surfaces played fair once again.

Mr. Turf (Donnie Meche) did it again, this time guiding a pair of grass winners home. The first was a much needed win for trainer Steve Wren (Farmington), and the other a $22.60 upset in the 7th (Jasons Jaxon). Suzy Zip has been razor sharp on the grass course here, and she was wining her 3rd turf race of the meet in today’s off the pace tally in the Elge Raspberry Stakes for the the productive Torres/Sam David Jr. team.

Hat trick for the aforementioned Donnie Meche, and ‘Cisco Torres matched him on this day. The recently hot C.Gonzalez/D.Loy teamed up for a pair of wins on the card.

August 31st

Both surfaces played fair once again.

Vintage PVal in the 2nd, as he won the break with Heelbolt and had enough left to hold off four others. Mike Burgess is a profitable turf trainer, and his Dutchess of Nistel pulled off a sharp wire job under Carlos Gonzalez to the tune of $29.00. Another perfect turf rider by Donnie Meche, as he got my bet-down best bet Serrano ($5.20) home.

Hat trick (2nd straight day) for Donnie Meche. Two more wins for C.Gonzalez as well.

September 1st

Main track played fair as Hurricane Gustav slowly crept into town (windy, scattered showers). Turf course played fair as well.

Classy Gentleman paid a generous $11.60 in the grassy 3rd. He was exiting the productive Zigaree/Bertsgoldenmissile maiden event on June 15th. Zigaree came back to win a grass sprint stake here, and Bert was an easy winner of today’s 8th. Leading trainer Jorge Lara has Mr. Grumpy Stripes on top of his game, and he was a sharp bet-down winner of a $10k claimer (race 4). Back-to-back smart wins by Tamo Tiger. He learned to rate in main track sprint maiden victory on August 1st, and he finished fast in today’s flat mile turf victory.

Francisco Torres booted home multiple winners for the 3rd time this week, and his 7 wins co-topped the week with Donnie Meche. Leading rider Don Simington struggled once again for most of the week, but he brought home Sunday’s finale and followed that up with two more wins on Labor Day. Two wins for leading trainer Jorge Lara.

Post from: Thoroughbred Fever

by Jarrod Horak (Louisiana Downs Track Handicapper/TV Host)

The winners keep on rolling (knock on wood) with 10 top selections getting the job done, including a smokin’ Saturday with 4 tops and 4 trifectas. 3rd straight Best Bet winner Mz. Myrtle ($5.20) kicked off the racing week, and I finished the week on a high note with suggested Majestic Commander/Triple Points Day best bet exacta returning a sweet $61.60.

Thursday (August 21st)

Off the turf and drying out main track upgraded to fast by the 8th race. Four wire jobs with inside lanes best, especially during the first half of the card. Track and lanes seemed to switch to the fair side as the day wore on.

Flamingo Key (race 3) collared loose on the lead inside speedster Aggressive Gold to get through this 2L extended sprint. Lightly raced Andrew Leggio Jr. trainee has plenty of upside and is worth following. Beaten fav Elluna (race 4) was claimed by Pam Simpson, and watch for her money rider Donnie Meche to hop aboard next time. Bamboo Gap (race 6) was the overbet fav in this compact off the turf extended sprint. He ended up an okay 3rd behind a pair of better main track performers, and the Sam David Jr. runner can rebound on the turf next time.

Four wins for John Jacinto to kick off the week, and hard charging trainer Pat Mouton saddled a pair of winners.

Friday (August 22nd)

Fast main track and off the turf again. Four more wire jobs with outside rallying types winning a few as well.

Shawklit Royale was the beaten fav (2nd by a neck) in the opener, and he was nabbed out of the heat by claiming artist Jerry Cart, who is 41% 1st off the claim. Illuminique (race 2) continued her sharp form with a good looking wire job, and she was re-claimed once again by Jan Haynes/Jorge Lara. Miss Beccas Gold (race 5) flopped as the fav stretching back out 1st off the Jorge Lara claim. Joe Duhon bought her back, and maybe he turns her back in distance and reunites with Torres next time. Maybe she is best as a late running sprinter after all. Clear place finisher Windaroo (race 6) was much improved 2nd time out, and the Pat Mouton runner was getting to wire job winner Regent Rules in the late stages. Disappointing best bet Dot’s Imp (race 7) had no visible excuses but did face some decent droppers and is worth playing back.

Hat trick for Carlos Gonzalez, and Francisco Torres/Joe Duhon teamed up for a pair of wins.

Saturday (August 23rd)
Fast track before late day rains made the finale sloppy. Soft turf feature the only race to be run on the grass all week. Only one wire job over a main track that clearly favored stalkers and closers.

Galfriend (race 3) ended up 3rd as the fav, and Cody Autrey has her now…look out next time. I Know I’m Special (race 5) landed the place as the fav behind her uncoupled stablemate, and she was claimed by the recently hot Dewaine Loy. She will not be a maiden much longer. Note that Loy won the 4th with Fridaydathirteenth, and he re-claimed 5th place finisher Crafty Earl. Expect the latter to attempt a wire job under fav pilot Gonzalez next time. Autobeacat (race 9) sat the right ground saving tracking trip under Donnie Meche en route to a good looking $100k World Series of Poker triumph. Sister Ticket (race 10) surprisingly drifted up to 4-1 in the finale, and the turf/dirt winner was turning back to a preferred main track sprint. The betting public seemingly forgot how impressive she was in her 3rd place debut after blowing the break and galloping out strongly.

Hat trick for Donnie Meche, including his 11th turf winner since July 11th, and two more wins for Carlos Gonzalez and Francisco Torres.

Sunday (August 24th)

Fast track and off the turf. Four wire jobs to conclude the week as the track profile definitely shifted from the day before.

A pair of favs in the maiden ranks failed to deliver the goods on the track after getting fractious in the paddock. Opening Wild (race 2) and Channel Surfer (race 5) were the culprits, and the latter was especially wound up (flipped). Both finished 4th and are worth a gander next time if their behavior mellows out. Louisianalagniappe (race was pitched over her head in a tough optional claiming feature, and she never got involved in last place finish. Sustained runner won a state bred $15k extended sprint claimer on July 13th, and she moves to the sharp Keith Bourgeois barn via claim. Best bet Triple Points Day chased lone speed Master Commander while 4-wide and fought hard to hold the place.

Rider of the week Carlos Gonzalez added a pair on Sunday and ended the week with 7 winners. Leading rider Don Simington only booted home two in an off week.

Dewaine Loy continued his scorching August with 3 more wins, and the aforementioned Gonzalez rode all three. Leading trainer Jorge Lara saddled a pair of winners on Sunday, and Jan Haynes owned both.

Post from: Thoroughbred Fever

My Thoroughbred Fever blog has returned following a brief hiatus, so let’s catch up with my weekly Louisiana Downs reports.

For those not familiar with this site, I am the Track Handicapper/TV host for Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, and I post horses to watch, jockey/trainer reports, track bias info, etc. in a week in review format from my home track, along with racing news and handicapping from across the globe.

Below are my thoughts from the week that was from LA Downs…

*** Did not have the best handicapping luck, but did peg Madame Elle ($16.80) on Thursday, and Champions Day best bet Diggy Fresh ($13.40) saved the day…and the week for that matter. Tough trips for more than one of my tops, including Zekes Fortune (c.meche, wide post 10), Tar Pot (c.meche, wide turf), Valid Romance (i.diego, traffic), Bandido (cj hernandez, traffic), T Kettle (c.meche, slow start rail), Isle of Silver (c.meche, slow start rail), and Irish Alert (d.simington, steadied start).

*** Both surfaces played fair. Early/pressing speed remains an asset on the main. Controlling speed is fine on turf, but duels are typically setting things up for off the pace types.

*** Rider of the week was a scramble with Donnie Meche booting home 5 winners, followed by Leblanc (4), Gonzalez (3), Jacinto (3), L.Meche (3) and Torres (3). Leading rider Don Simington was shut out on Champions Day and only rode 2 winners for the week. Gerard Melancon invaded for Champions Day and rode two winners.

*** James Hodges saddled two winners on Champions Day and 3 for the week, and 3 different riders were aboard. .Joe Duhon saddled a pair of winners, and Torres rode both. Two wins for D.F. Loy as well, and Gonzalez rode both. Two wins for trainer Connie Tassistro.

*** Champions Day (August 2nd) produced some nice efforts, including Superior Storm in the Oaks, my strong top Star Production in the Derby, and Run Don’t Stroll in the Laurel Lane.

Post from: Thoroughbred Fever

*** John Jacinto had a big week with 9 wins, and it could have been better had he not been DQ’d in Saturday’s 4th race. He teamed up with Pat Mouton for three of the winners, and with John Locke for a pair.

*** Apprentice Dustin Dugas got the ball rolling with a trio of winners on the week. Watch as the youngster gains more confidence and gets on better horses.

*** Morning Ridge and Mr. Canaveral share horse performance of the week honors. The former ran her record to a perfect 4-4, while the latter was winning his 3rd straight race at the meet at his 3rd different distance while climbing the class ladder.

Post from: Thoroughbred Fever