Photo: CDI
Donegal Racing’s
Finnegans Wake, third behind Hansen
in the Grade III Gotham at Aqueduct earlier this month, worked five
furlongs in :59 3/5, breezing, at Fair Grounds on Saturday. It
was the Powerscourt colt’s first official move over the surface since
arriving here from South Florida’s
Palm
Meadows Training
Center mid-week.
“I thought the work was perfect,” said
Tammy Fox, the
New Orleans native and wife of trainer
Dale Romans who was aboard
for the breeze. “He did everything that Dale wanted me to do with him.
He handled the track really good. He was looking around a little bit but
that’s what he does. He finished really well
and did it all on his own.”
Finnegans Wake worked through even 12-second splits of :12, :24, :36 and :48 before finishing the final eighth in :11 4/5.
Fox said Finnegans Wake will gallop just before the renovation break for the rest of this week.
COMISKY’S HUMOR ‘PERFECT’ IN MILE WORK
Mike Munna Racing Stable’s Comisky’s Humor,
winner of consecutive sprints over the Fair Grounds main track by a
combined 18 lengths, worked one mile in 1:50, breezing, with regular
rider
Richard Eramia up, in advance of his first attempt around two turns in the 1 1/8-mile Louisiana Derby.
“We pretty much two-minute-licked him and let him finish,” trainer
Ron Faucheux said. “I
thought it was perfect; exactly what we wanted. Richard said he felt
good and thought he really relaxed. As long as he comes out of it OK and
looks good tomorrow morning we’ll go ahead and enter.”
Asked
which post position he’d prefer, Faucheux answered “one” without
hesitation and added that there’s no reason to pretend their strategy
might be anything other than to go to the lead and see how long they
can hold on.
“He’s got to go,” Faucheaux said. “No secret there. He’ll be in front at some point, we know that much.”
OTHER SATURDAY DERBY WORKS
Gary & Mary West’s Fire Alarm,
an entry-level allowance winner earlier in March, worked four furlongs in :50 1/5, breezing, for trainer
Bret Calhoun…West Point Thoroughbreds’ Flashy Sunrise, a maiden who has finished second in consecutive Fair Grounds maiden special weights, worked a half-mile in :48
3/5, breezing, for trainer Dallas Stewart.
CIGAR STREET TO WORK SUNDAY
Jake Ballis’s Cigar Street,
a dominant 13 ¾-length maiden winner earlier this month, will breeze
Sunday immediately following the renovation break, according to
Sue Margolis, wife of trainer Steve Margolis, who is at Turfway Park today. Steve Margolis said earlier this week that a decision on
Cigar Street’s status for the Louisiana Derby would not be made until after this weekend’s work.
REMINDER FOR LOCAL MEDIA: POST POSITION DRAW MONDAY
The Louisiana Derby post position draw will be held
Monday at 11:30 a.m. in the Fair Grounds paddock. Trainers of prominent
entrants will be available for one-one-one interviews following the
draw. All credentialed media are invited for the
15-minute post draw and press conference.
‘NO FAVORITES ALLOWED’ SEMINARS
National Handicapping Championship winner Michael Beychok
will be the special guest handicapper at the weekly “No
Favorites Allowed” seminar on Fair Grounds Oaks Day, March 31. The
following morning, Churchill Downs Racing Analyst
Jill Byrne will join Louisiana Downs track announcer
Travis Stone for a special
Louisiana Derby Day seminar. The seminars, held in The Phoenix room on
the Grandstand’s third floor, are free and open to handicappers of all
skill levels, including beginners. Along with
moderator Jim Mulvihill, panelists focus on picking live horses beyond the morning line favorites.
FRIDAY POST TIMES AND WAGERING MENU
Fair Grounds has set post times for Friday’s historic
18-race program, which kicks off at 12:40 p.m. There will be a one-hour
break between Race 9 and Race 10, from 4:50-5:50 p.m. CDT. Also, there
will be two additional Pick Fours, beginning
on Race 6 and Race 11, in addition to the usual Pick Four wagers
starting on Race 2 and Race 15. Starlight Racing prices will go into
effect at 3:30 p.m. and the
Miller
Lite Beer
Garden will open at 5 p.m. The complete post times can be found with Friday’s entries.
FAIR GROUNDS OAKS POST TIME
Saturday’s $500,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (Gr. II) will be
Race 10 at 4:58 p.m. CDT. First post is 12:10 p.m. The Fair Grounds
Oaks Day card will be drawn Sunday morning in the Racing Office.