Ramona Bass’s Applauding,
brilliant and undefeated in her only two lifetime starts – both at one
turn – appears poised on the cusp of added stature as she readies to go
to the post as the 4-5 morning
line choice in Saturday’s $125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Fair Grounds.
The Silverbulletday, contested at a mile and 70 yards, is the first leg of
New Orleans’ three race series for sophomore fillies that continues with the
Grade III Rachel Alexandra Stakes Feb. 25 and concludes with the
Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks March
31 – penultimate day of the
Crescent City oval’s 2011-2012 racing season.
Saturday at Fair Grounds is also
Road to the Derby Kickoff Day Presented by Hotel Monteleone and this weekend’s gala
13-race program offers a total of six stakes worth a total of $650,000 while showcasing the
Grade III Lecomte Stakes as a stepping stone to the 99th running of the
$1 million Louisiana Derby April 1, Closing Day of Fair Grounds’ season.
A special early first race post time of
12:10 p.m. is scheduled at Fair Grounds for the banner afternoon.
Applauding
made her career debut over Keeneland’s Polytrack course Oct. 14 and
dispatched a file of maidens with a nine-length romp, and came
back to competition Dec. 2 at Fair Grounds to score by six lengths in
equally facile fashion under Louisiana native jockey
Shane Sellers. Trainer Al Stall Jr. will employ Sellers again in the Silverbulletday as he eagerly awaits her willingness to get a distance of ground.
Greenwood Lodge Farm’s
Summer Applause, second
choice in the Silverbulletday morning line at 7-2, is another capable of
getting further rave reviews. The daughter of Harlan’s
Holiday won her last trip to the post
here by seven lengths on Dec. 31 and that race was at Saturday’s
distance. She will be ridden by seven-time Fair Grounds riding champion
Robby Albarado.
Completing the Silverbulletday field is Pozo de Luna’s
Yvete Sangalo, Shaun Bridgmohan (12-1); Jake Ballis’s
Inny Minnie, John Velazquez (8-1); Pop-A-Top’s
Always Here Too, James Graham (12-1); and Brereton Jones’
Believe You Can, Rosie Napravnik (4-1).