Fair Grounds

A four-length winner at Indiana Grand Sept. 27, North County added a Keeneland allowance in a sloppy off-turfer Oct. 30. Second choice Sunday afternoon at 7-2, the Shadow Pond Stable-bred rated in a three-deep third into the first turn in the wake of a dawdling pace. The tempo quickened as noses pointed toward home and North County was shaken up leaving the bend. It took most of the stretch, but she clawed past Fannie and Freddie in the final few jumps to remain undefeated and collect a first black-type rosette....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency HALF TO ALWAYS DREAMING MAKES CAREER BOW 4th-FG, $45K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 2:30 p.m. Mike Ryan will be represented by the latest foal out of his and the late Gerry Dilger's blue hen Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}) in BEYOND PERFECTION (Curlin). The Grade III winner is also responsible for GI Kentucky Derby and GI Florida Derby hero Always Dreaming (Bodemeister); GSW Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile); and GISW Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union), who in turn produced GSW Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) and MSW...

Marc Detampel's New Year's Eve (Kitten's Joy) was overlooked at 11-1 in this career bow, but that won't happen in her next start after a good-looking graduation at Fair Grounds Friday. Squeezed out by her neighbors at the start, the chestnut raced near the back of the pack through opening splits of :24.41 and :50.24. Swung out to the center of the course in the stretch, New Year's Eve unleashed a furious late rally, sling-shotting past her competition to win going away by 1 1/2 lengths. Missoni (Flintshire {GB}) filled...

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton It was a little odd to see Oaklawn Park in the mix of tracks running on the first weekend of December. It was even stranger to see the Arkansas track carding races for 2-year-olds, which has not happened since Mar. 27, 1975. The winds of change are blowing through the pre-winter mists of Hot Springs. The biggest challenge facing Oaklawn as it embarks upon a Dec. 3-May 8 season for the first time is whether or not the popular track can retain the...

An impasse whose origin dates back more than two years that has prevented Nevada race books from taking betting on three simulcasting signals controlled by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), was reportedly resolved on Wednesday, although it remains unclear which side budged or what changed in the negotiations. Mike Brunker of the Las Vegas Review-Journal broke the story Dec. 1. Three signed contracts for the Fair Grounds, Turfway Park and Oaklawn Park that were suddenly offered by CDI were inked into agreement on Wednesday by the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association, which represents...

Morris G. Nicks, who trained for parts of six decades, primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana and Kentucky, died Nov. 25 at his home in Waskom, Texas. He had been fighting cancer and was 74 years old. His passing was confirmed by his wife Ellen in a Daily Racing Form story that broke the news Sunday. His son, the trainer Ralph Nicks, told DRF that his father had requested no funeral services to be held. According to DRF, Nicks grew up on a farm in Texas and galloped horses and rode in...

7th-Fair Grounds, $45,000, Msw, 11-26, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.57, ft, 3/4 length. UNDERHILL'S TAB (c, 2, Unified--Mykindasaint {MSW, $171,228}, by Saint Ballado), looking to become the 15th winner for his freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}), was half of the 4-5 favored entry. The dark bay colt tracked pacesetting entrymate Prather (Into Mischief) from third while racing along the rail through fractions of :22.41 and :45.99. He ranged up three wide at the top of the stretch and collared a determined Boss' Dialin In (Dialed In) late despite drifting out to...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency PRICEY UNIFIED DEBUTS IN NOLA 7th-FG, $45K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:11 p.m. Spendthrift Farm's $400,000 OBSMAR purchase UNDERHILL'S TAB (Unified) makes his career bow in this spot for trainer Al Stall. A $10,000 KEENOV weanling and $19,000 FTKOCT yearling, the dark bay breezed in a snappy :9 4/5 at OBS. Out of MSW Mykindasaint (Saint Ballado), the colt is a half to SW Malibu Saint (Malibu Moon). Spendthrift and partners William and Corinne Heiligbrodt will be represented by second timer Prather (Into Mischief). The...

The Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) unanimously passed a motion Tuesday that owner and trainer Karl Broberg believes will allow him to race horses at the upcoming Fair Grounds meet despite an exclusion order imposed last month by that track's corporate owner, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI). "I am allowed to enter and run at the Fair Grounds," Broberg told TDN hours after the LSRC ruled that the private-property exclusion by CDI doesn't carry the same reciprocity as a ruling issued by a board of stewards or state racing commission. According...

For its 150th anniversary racing season, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will boast 59 stakes worth a combined $7.795 million--up more than $600,000 from last season--during its 80-day, 2021-22 Thoroughbred meet, which is set to begin Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25. "Fair Grounds Race Track is embedded in the history of New Orleans," said Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots president Doug Shipley. "We have always been very proud to be part of such a great city and this year marks the 150th anniversary of our inaugural season. We...

Back in the days when I was in high school, I would work in the racing office at Jefferson Downs in the mornings as an entry clerk. This was before the days of computerized databases and electronically keyed-in entries. Entry blanks were bound by red glue as thick pads and filled out in pencil. Each form filled out one by one, as the jockey agents and trainers drifted into the racing office to do business. Entries were made in individual stalls for privacy and usually in a hushed tone so...

Racing at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans drew to a close Mar. 28, a meet which saw purses hiked no fewer than three times and featured a typically strong stakes and overnight program supported by a wide swath of horsepeople. Ron Faucheux won his first training title at the Fair Grounds with 40 victories, three better than four-time defending champion trainer Brad Cox, whose successes at the meeting included the GII Risen Star S. with 'TDN Rising Star' Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and the GII Fair Grounds Oaks with 'Rising...