Fair Grounds

And so we begin anew. The GIII Lecomte S. always warms the heart: it's like noticing the first buds on the bare trees, as the quiet midwinter promise--familiar, expected, miraculous--of another spring to come. In trees, each new cycle is nourished by past decay: by roots extending into soil enriched by the leaves discarded at the end of the previous one. And actually it's not dissimilar with selective breeding, so that each generation can recycle its speed, stamina, beauty, bravery. The world may be a very different place, on and...

On Saturday at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, the age-old wager known as the Daily Double will encompass a pair of Grade III races late on the card. The GIII Louisiana S. for older males will give way to a group of youthful 3-year-olds in the GIII Lecomte S., as they look to chase Kentucky Derby points that have expanded to 20-8-6-4-2 for the top five finishers. Calhoun Looks to Continue Louisiana Hot Hand Bret Calhoun continues to lead in the trainer standings during the meet for an award...

Fasig-Tipton will be the title sponsor of Fair Grounds Race Course's 2023 series for 3-year-old fillies. The "Fasig-Tipton Tremé Triple" consists of the Silverbulletday S. on Jan. 21, the GII Rachel Alexandra S. on Feb. 18, and the GII Fair Grounds Oaks on Mar. 25. The name of the series is a tribute to the historic Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans that borders Fair Grounds Race Course. "We are very excited to expand our partnership with Fair Grounds Race Course to sponsor the Louisiana's 3-year-old filly series that leads to...

There are better, faster horses in the sport, but there's not another one like Beverly Park (Munnings). In an era where five or six starts a year is considered a normal campaign for a horse and many trainers look for seven or eight weeks between starts, the 5-year-old made of blood, flesh and iron continued to laugh at conventional wisdom. In his 30th start of the year, he won Saturday's third race at the Fair Grounds by 3 3/4 lengths, paying $3.80. The race was a starter optional claimer and...

Following excessive rain overnight and throughout the morning and after a consultation between track management and the stewards, a joint decision was made to cancel Friday's card at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Live racing will resume on Saturday, Dec. 31 with the regular post time of 1:15 p.m. CT. The 10-race card features a quartet of stakes including the $100,000 Woodchopper, $100,000 Pago Hop, and a pair of $100,000 Louisiana Futurities.

Pretty Mischievous made it a clean sweep of the afternoon's two-turn juvenile stakes for 'TDN Rising Stars' with a good-looking success in Monday's Untapable S. at the Fair Grounds. Made the 8-5 second pick off a third behind the promising Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) in the GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs Nov. 26, the Godolphin homebred broke well from the rail draw and enjoyed the run of the race from just in behind. Allowed to take a two-path run passing the 4 1/2-furlong marker, Pretty Mischievous had a...

'TDN Rising Star' Jace's Road (Quality Road) took advantage of a bit of a stumbling start from favored Determinedly (Cairo Prince) to lead past every pole for a maiden stakes success in Monday's Gun Runner S. at the Fair Grounds. Sent off the 14-5 second favorite off a forgettable and forgivable eighth-place effort as the favorite in a sloppy renewal of the GIII Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs Oct. 30, the $510,000 Keeneland September graduate found his way to the front as Determinedly--off at 4-5--bobbled slightly and though pressured,...

Dazzling Blue (Into Mischief--Blue Violet, by Curlin) came into the Letellier Memorial S. as the 1-2 favorite and ran to her odds, securing her second daylight score in two tries to remain unbeaten. The Juddmonte runner--a $500,000 purchase as a Keeneland September yearling from WinStar--rushed up to take the lead under Florent Geroux after being bumped by her inside rival out of the gate and giving ground as she found her stride. She found it quickly and had measured control of the pace while registering a :22.18 first quarter and...

Off as the heavy chalk in Monday's $97,000 Sugar Bowl S., Stonestreet Stables LLC's Corona Bolt (Bolt d'Oro) led not long after the start and kicked away in the final furlong to become a sixth black-type winner for his leading freshman sire (by Medaglia d'Oro). Adding Lasix off strong one-length debut score at Churchill Downs Nov. 19 (82 Beyer Speed Figure), the $225,000 Keeneland November weanling speared through from between rivals to lead and covered the opening couple of furlongs :22.24 under an easy Florent Geroux hold and turned them...

The annual Dec. 26 start of the Santa Anita season has a natural, anticipatory, turn-the-page vibe to it. But this mark-your-calendar Opening Day mainstay hasn't always been a post-holiday tradition. Although Santa Anita has kicked off its winter/spring meet on the day after Christmas every year since 1977, the track originally opened in 1934 on Christmas Day itself, and did so for the first four years of its existence. "Filmdom entirely forgot its world of make-believe to migrate to the Santa Anita track yesterday for the renewal of horse racing...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-FG, $50K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:45 p.m. Purchased for $650,000 out of the OBS April Sale after a sharp :9.4 breeze, ROXY'S BALL (Bolt d'Oro) was the most expensive filly and the second-most expensive overall by her freshman sire (by Medaglia d'Oro) from the sale. From a heavily-Australian influenced family, her third dam produced MG1SW Toledo (Aus) (At Talaq). Closer up, her own dam is a multiple stakes winner and multiple graded-stakes placed in her native Australia before being imported in 2018. Conditioned by...

Turf racing will return to Fair Grounds for the track's "Road to the Derby Kickoff Day" card, to be held Monday, Dec. 26. Officials at Fair Grounds previously suspended turf racing Nov. 25 to allow the Stall-Wilson course to recover from damage to its inner portion. With the portable rail set at 34 feet, fields will be limited to eight runners for the Blushing KD S.and Buddy Diliberto Memorial S. With the same parameters, turf racing will again be conducted Dec. 31 with the runnings of the Pago Hop S....