Photo: CDI
As all Thoroughbred racehorses officially turn a year older on Jan. 1, fans will begin to focus on the newly turned 3-year-olds and the series of stakes races that lead to the $1 million Louisiana Derby (GII) and the $500,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) on March 30. More so than ever thanks to a new points-based system for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks qualifying, the Road to the Louisiana Derby and Fair Grounds Oaks will establish which local colts and fillies might be prominent at Churchill Downs on the first weekend in May.
The
Road to the Louisiana Derby begins in earnest on Jan. 19 with the
$200,000 Lecomte Stakes (GIII) at one mile and 70 yards. The
fillies kick off the Road to the Fair Grounds Oaks that same afternoon
at the same distance in the $125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes. Each race
is worth 17 points (10 for first, four for second, two for third, one
for fourth) toward Kentucky Derby and Kentucky
Oaks qualification.
Below
are leading horses to watch in each division, listed alphabetically,
based on past performances, published works and interviews
with horsemen. Inclusion on this list does not necessarily mean that
the horse is known to be under consideration for upcoming Fair Grounds
stakes.
Colts & Geldings
Horse (Trainer) – Summary and comments
CIRCLE UNBROKEN
(Garry
Simms) – Broken Vow colt won his first two starts at Churchill Downs,
including the Bashford Manor Stakes (GIII), before a second last time
out in the Aug. 4 Mountaineer
Juvenile. Has four published works at Fair Grounds in December and is
up to five-eighths in preparation for a return to the races.
Simms:
“A couple more works and we’ll have him pretty close to running. I
don’t really have an exact plan for him. We’ll just let him tell us. The
ultimate plan would be the Louisiana Derby,
if he’s good enough. He just had a little P1 in his right-front ankle,
no big deal. It wasn’t a big chip but we decided to clean it up; we do
the right thing by the horse.”
DEPARTING (Al Stall Jr.) – War Front
colt won a deep Dec. 22 six-furlong maiden special weight at first asking by 2 ¼ lengths.
Stall: “He’s
a ‘non-two’ so that’s his game plan. Everybody liked their horses in
there (the Dec. 22 race). He showed seasoning and I’d think he got a lot
out of that race the way it unfolded,
with him being in the pocket and then coming through the inside; that
was nice. He’ll be fine going long; I was even thinking of running him
long first-time out. The family, I know, stretches, so that’s a
no-brainer.”
GOLDEN SOUL (Dallas Stewart) – Perfect
Soul colt finished strongly to win a Dec. 30 two-turn maiden special weight by 7 ¼ lengths. Stewart:
“I think he’s a really good one, I really do. He’s
trained so well, has a lot of talent and ran real well first-time out.
We’ve got some very high hopes for him. We’re going to take our time
with him. He’s a late foal, May 14. I think he’s unlimited
on distance. We’re going to do the smart thing and take our time. The
Lecomte might be pushing it but we’ll have to wait and see.”
HAWAAKOM
(Danny Peitz) – Jazil colt
upset a Dec. 15 maiden special weight in his first try stretching out,
winning by 1 ½ lengths. Petiz said after that race that he would
consider the Jan. 19 Lecomte.
Peitz: “I guess you could say he's my
Derby horse now. I'll say that because he's the only two-year-old I have that has won going over a distance of ground.”
IVE STRUCK A NERVE
(Keith Desormeaux) – Yankee Gentleman colt
won a six-furlong maiden special weight opening weekend and
was second to Tour Guide sprinting in the
Dec. 22 overnight $60,000 Sugar Bowl Stakes.
Desormeaux:
“I think it was a great prep for the Lecomte. That’s my goal is January
19. He’s out of a Cryptoclearance mare so he should be able to run all
day. We’re excited about him.”
MALIBU
HIGH (Cecil Borel) –
Malibu Moon colt is undefeated in two starts sprinting, including a Dec. 28 entry-level allowance at Fair Grounds.
Will be nominated to the Lecomte and
Oaklawn
Park’s ungraded $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes (Jan. 21) as possible next starts.
Jockey Calvin Borel:
“He has all the talent in the world. He’s a very smart horse; he’ll win on his smartness. I think he’ll beat some good horses.”
MYLUTE
(Tom Amoss) – Midnight Lute
colt drew off to a 10 ¾-length win in a Dec. 26 two-turn entry-level
allowance. He’s earned $213,695 thanks to three on-the-board finishes in
stakes: a third in the $1 million Delta Jackpot (GIII), second in the
$200,000 Jean Laffite Stakes at Delta and a
second in the $75,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows. Amoss: “It’ll either be the Lecomte or wait until the Risen Star and that’s a decision that’s going to be made by GoldMark
Farm general manager Todd Quast. A lot of it will have to do with how he trains over the next three weeks.”
TOUR GUIDE
(Bret Calhoun) – Broken
Vow colt cruised to a 3 ½-length score sprinting in the Dec. 22
overnight $60,000 Sugar Bowl Stakes as the odds-on favorite, a win that
was foreshadowed by an easy 4 ½-length victory against winners at
Churchill Downs on Nov. 24.
Calhoun:
“He’s
healthy and doing well right now. He’s still growing and developing and
he’s doing it very slowly. He’s a very fast horse, for sure, and we’ll
just have to see if we can harness
some of that speed and stretch it out. I do think there’s more left in
the tank. This horse gets a little bit lost when he’s out on the lead. …
Pedigree-wise this horse should stretch out. The last two-turn race was
definitely a throw-out race. We may have
to try it again.”
VIOLENCE
(Todd Pletcher) – Undefeated
Medaglia d’Oro colt is among the leading Kentucky Derby contenders
after wins in the CashCall Futurity (GI) and the Nashua Stakes (GII).
Based in Florida but is among the Louisiana Derby Early Bird nominees
and has been mentioned by Pletcher as a possibility
for the Feb. 23 Risen Star Stakes (GII), which would help keep him
apart from other top Pletcher prospects.
Pletcher:
“He’s the kind of horse that has such a great disposition and good mind
that shipping wouldn’t bother him at all. He’ll probably start again at
the end of February or the beginning
of March.”
Fillies
Horse (Trainer) – Summary and comments
BLUEEYESINTHEREIN
(Garry
Simms) – Magna Graduate filly is two-for-two, including a win in the
Debutante Stakes (GIII) at Churchill Downs in June. Had first work since
July at Fair Grounds on Saturday.
Simms: “She worked her first three-eighths and
did it beautifully. We just took it nice and easy, thirty-seven and
change, wouldn’t blow out a match. She had a little tibia fracture in
her left-hind. No surgery, just time off. We turned her out, gave her
time, and she’s doing great. I’m not going to rush her, but she’ll get
ready quick. I’ve got a lot of bottom in her. I worked her three-eighths
but she went out a half in fifty-and-something
and she looked like I just jogged her.”
BROTHERHOOD SINGER
(Garry
Simms) – Dehere filly was third as the even-money favorite in the Dec.
22 overnight $60,000 Letellier Memorial going six furlongs. She was an
easy entry-level allowance winner at
Churchill Downs in November after fading to seventh in her stakes debut
going two turns in the Pocahontas (GII).
Simms:
“I think she’ll go long. I backed off of her because she’d run quite a
bit. She just needed the (last) race. It won’t be so easy for them next
time, I promise you. She’ll stretch it
out. She’s a good filly. She’s possible [for the Silverbulletday]. I
would prefer to keep mine separate but if they’re all ready, what do you
do?”
CLOUDY IN SANDIEGO
(Steve
Margolis) – Filly from the deceased War Pass’s second and final season
came back to convincingly win a Dec. 28 two-turn entry-level allowance
gate to wire after a disappointing
ninth-place finish in the Nov. 24 Delta Downs Princess Stakes (GIII).
Was fourth in the Oct. 27 Pocahontas (GII) at Churchill following an
Oct. 2 win at Hoosier.
Margolis: “I think she still had a
little more in the tank; it’s not like she was all-out. She’s always
acted like she had some quality and we just have to see if she can go on
to the next
level now. The Silverbulletday is back in three weeks so we’ll have to
see. I don’t think that last race was real hard on her and if she missed
this one then we’d have to wait seven weeks.”
ESTONIA
(Neil Howard) – Flashy Bull filly won a Dec. 1 two-turn entry-level
allowance by three lengths, her second victory in three starts.
Howard: “This time of year, with a two-year-old
that’s won two races, if you don’t run in the Silverbulletday there’s
nowhere else to run. We are, obviously, thinking about it. She’s
training
fine. She’s an improving filly but she still has a long way to go. We
know it’s going to be a tall order but if everything’s fine with her and
it looks like a chance for her to pick up some black type…”
FINDING MORE
(Kellyn
Gorder) – Washington-bred Trickey Trevor filly has won three in a row,
including an October entry-level allowance at Churchill Downs and the
Dec. 22 overnight $60,000 Letellier
Memorial going six furlongs at Fair Grounds. Assistant trainer Evan Downing:
“I think we will see if she can go two turns. It does sound
like she has more sprint breeding but she won going seven-eighths last
time (Oct. 28 at CD) so we’ll probably try.”
FLASHY CAMPAIGN
(Tom Amoss) – Political
Force filly easily won at first asking going six furlongs opening
weekend then finished second as the odds-on choice in her first try
stretching out in a Dec. 28 entry-level allowance in the slop.
Amoss: “The idea was to break and I
thought she’d be on the front end but that’s not how it went. We were
disappointed and we’ll regroup and try again. Chances are she’ll run in
the [Silverbulletday].”
GAL ABOUT TOWN
(Bret Calhoun) – City
Zip filly was second in both of Churchill’s fall Grade II juvenile
filly stakes – the Golden Rod at 1 1/16 miles and the Pocahontas at one
mile. She broke her maiden in September at
Monmouth
Park and beat winners handily at Keeneland in October.
Calhoun: “We’re shooting for the
Silverbulletday
for her next start. I thought she ran great
in the Golden Rod. We were a little disappointed she didn’t win, but she
ran great so we’re happy with that.”
GIVMETHREESTEPSMR
(Garry
Simms) – Magna Graduate filly won impressively first time out sprinting
at Ellis Park in July. Has four published works at Fair Grounds in
December and is up to five-eighths in
preparation for her return to the races. Simms:
“She’s a pretty special filly. She was a June 15 foal but
we ran her the one time and she came up a little funny. She’s on the
same timetable as Circle Unbroken; they’ve been workmates from the first
three-eighths on. They’re both push-button,
really easy horses to train. We’ve got high hopes for her; I think
she’s a good filly but we’ll have to see as the competition gets
tougher. She’s pretty close, too. [The Silverbulletday] is the one I’m
kind of looking at, if I can make it. I think she’s that
good and she’ll run all day.”
MADAME CACTUS
(Steve
Asmussen) – Cactus Ridge filly broke her maiden by more than six
lengths sprinting at Santa Anita and came back to win the My Trusty Cat
at Delta by two. Finished fourth in the
Nov. 24 Delta Downs Princess Stakes (GIII) as the favorite and returned
to the track with an easy half-mile work at Fair Grounds on Dec. 17.
Owner Marc Ferrell of VinMar Farm:
“We sent her to the Fair Grounds and backed off on her
for a little bit, tack-walked her and let her transition from a
two-year-old to a three-year-old. We have our eyes set on the
Silverbulletday as her return race and that’ll be the first step.
She showed such a turn of foot in her first three races, to come up to
that fourth one in that fashion was a little bit disappointing. But it
all made sense in the final analysis; she got shuffled back to last and
whatever could have gone wrong did. She’s
probably going to work in company on Wednesday.”
MAGICAL MOON
(Al
Stall Jr.) – Malibu Moon filly broke her maiden on the Saratoga turf by
more than 10 lengths and came back to run third in the Alcibiades (GI)
over Keeneland’s synthetic main
track. Has posted two easy three-furlong works, on Dec. 24 and Dec. 30.
Stall:
“She went to South Carolina
just to hang around after the Alcibiades. She’s a ‘non-winners of two’
so we’ll do that first and go from there. We’ll get her back on the
dirt, though,
just to see if she likes it. She’s trained so well on it we can’t
figure out why she ran like she did in her first race (a fifth at
Churchill Downs in June).”
MELODY LADY
(Steve
Asmussen) – Bred to be a champion by Unbridled’s Song out of multiple
Grade I winner and 2003 Fair Grounds Oaks heroine Lady Tak, the gray
filly won a Dec. 13 six-furlong maiden
special weight by 2 ¾ lengths with little urging. Co-Owner John Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings:
“In her first start she kind of faltered and stopped,
which was a surprise to Steve and to us, but she ran big to break her
maiden. Baby steps and we’ll see where she takes us. It’s early yet and
all options are open. We’ll leave it to Steve
to find the next spot and hopefully she’ll pass the next test. Lady Tak
was a phenomenal race filly, world-class, and hopefully this filly will
continue on and be black-type quality.”
SEANEEN GIRL
(Bernie Flint) – Spring
At Last filly posted a 31-1 upset in the Nov. 24 Golden Rod (GII) at
Churchill Downs. Made her first five starts over Woodbine’s synthetic
surface, including a runner-up finish in the Mazarine (GIII) in October.
Has four works over the Fair Grounds track in
December. Flint:
“We’re only going to run her two times here and then she’s going to the [Kentucky]
Oaks. We’ll probably wait for the one in February (the Rachel
Alexandra). I don’t want to use
her too much. We’ve got enough points. I don’t ask much of her now.
She’s rested, she’s growing, she looks good and we just need her to keep
going that way.”
SIGN (Al Stall Jr.) –
Pulpit filly is two-for-two, including a win in the
Pocahontas (GII) at Churchill Downs. Hasn’t worked since but is expected
to make her highly anticipated 2013 debut in the Feb. 23 Rachel
Alexandra Stakes (GIII) at Fair Grounds.
Stall:
“She’s back in training. We gave her some time off; she had
one of those bone bruise deals in her hind ankle. We just gave her a
little breather and we’re starting her again. I guess she’s still on
schedule for the Rachel Alexandra.”
SITTIN AT THE BAR
(Brett
Brinkman) – By Into Mischief, the top Louisiana-bred filly at the meet
won the Dec. 8 Louisiana Champions Day Lassie by eight lengths and will
be heavily favored in today’s fillies
division of the restricted Louisiana Futurity. In November she finished
third versus open company in the Delta Princess (GIII). Another easy
win against state-bred company today could prompt the connections to
consider one of the upcoming open stakes.
Brinkman: “She
came out of that race (the Delta Princess) in good order and we were
undecided and then as we progressed along, she made us more
confident. She is a classy filly.”
SMITTEN
(Larry Jones) – Tapit filly broke her maiden in a Dec. 16 two-turn maiden special weight.
Jones:
“We’re going to nominate her [to the Silverbulletday] and we’ll see if
an allowance race goes or not. It’s so hard to get the allowance races
to go. But I’m sure going to run her somewhere
in January, the good Lord willing. I don’t know if she’s there yet but I
do think this filly could be a really nice horse.”
TOUCH MAGIC
(Pat Devereux) – Lion Heart
filly just missed in the Nov. 17 Delta Princess (GIII), finishing
second by a half-length. Returned to South Florida following that start
but is back in
Louisiana at the Evangeline
Training Center after being purchased privately by Coteau Grove Farm (Keith & Ginger Myers). Devereux:
“We nominated to the Silverbulletday and that’s our plan,
to go there next. She’s doing great. We hope she’ll stretch out as the
spring goes on but she’s a nice filly either way. She just hasn’t done
anything wrong. We vetted her out comprehensively
and she scored well everywhere. She was just about the best available
we could buy; we wanted a good filly turning three and she is one. I’m
going to try to bring her to Fair Grounds to work her on Sunday (Jan.
6).”