Photo: CDI
He’s probably been more good than lucky
over the past year – especially at Fair Grounds – so Laconian Racing Stable,
Steve Organ and Josie Carroll’s Good and Lucky has finally been
shouldered with the favorite’s mantle at 9-5 in the morning line for Saturday’s
$75,000 Louisiana
Handicap.
He won the 2009 Louisiana Handicap at
better than 9-1 and was clearly second best in last year’s Grade III Mineshaft
Handicap at almost 8-1, but despite those performances Good and Lucky was still
not the favorite when he won this season’s $59,000 Tenacious Handicap by almost
two lengths.
“For some reason, he just flourishes
when he gets down here,” said Ruth Schmidt, assistant to Good and
Lucky’s part owner and trainer Josie Carroll during training hours
Thursday morning. “He just keeps responding for us, and he’s been training very
well coming into this race.
“He’s become a lot more versatile as
he’s gotten older,” said Schmidt of the 7-year-old gelding. “You used to have
to go to the lead with him, but in recent times he has learned to relax. We
gave him a nice gallop earlier in the week, so now all we have to do is lead
him over Saturday. We’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”
Sand & Cee Stables’ Secret
Getaway, second to Good and Lucky in this season’s Tenacious but the winner
over that rival in last year’s renewal, is the second choice at 5-2 in
Saturday’s Louisiana Handicap morning line.
“I was happy with his comeback race (in
this season’s Tenacious),” said trainer Mike Stidham on Thursday
morning. “I think he fits very well in this race.”
However, also entered in Saturday’s
Louisiana Handicap is last year’s Grade II Louisiana Derby winner Friesan
Fire, owned by Vinery Stable and Fox Hill Farms and conditioned by two-time
Eclipse Award winning trainer Steve Asmussen, as well as last spring’s Grade
I Blue Grass winner General Quarters, owned (and trained) by Tom
McCarthy. Both those rivals are veterans of last year’s Kentucky Derby
and Preakness but both were taken out of training for surgery following
the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Following long layoffs, Friesan Fire
returned to finish third behind Good and Lucky in a $100,000 optional claiming
race at Fair Grounds Dec. 3 and is 3-1 in Saturday’s Louisiana Handicap morning
line, while General Quarters came back to finish second in another optional
claiming race at Fair Grounds Dec. 26 and is 6-1 in Saturday’s Louisiana
Handicap renewal.
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