Fair Grounds

The concept of the super trainer is by no means a new phenomenon in horse racing, but the huge stables run by super trainers have undoubtedly changed the landscape of the sport in many ways, from the backside to the racing entries. Are super trainers bad for the sport?  Are there any benefits for an owner in using a "smaller" trainer? We asked these questions and more to a few trainers who may not be considered super trainers in terms of their stall numbers, but they have made the most...

Fair Grounds Race Course has announced a 15% across-the-board purse increase, effective with entries for the Jan. 13 card which will be drawn Jan. 6. Maiden special weight races at the New Orleans oval will now be worth $52,000. "We're extremely excited to announce a 15% increase to our daily purse structure," Fair Grounds' racing secretary Scott Jones said. "Based on the strong early handle returns and continued support from our owners and horsemen, we are in a position to raise purses."

Girl With a Dream broke sharply and made all to win the Letellier Memorial S. and become the fifth stakes winner for her freshman sire Practical Joke (Into Mischief) Monday at Fair Grounds. The 3-5 favorite, adding Lasix for this effort, grabbed the lead and was pressed through an opening quarter in :22.49. She was joined by stablemate Com' on Sweet Luv at the top of the lane after a half in :46.42 and determinedly held that rival at bay to the wire. Girl With a Dream graduated by 6...

Two years ago, 8-year-old Reagan Ingordo purchased a weanling daughter of Unified for $25,000 at the Keeneland November sale. The filly rewarded her young buyer when winning her career debut at Fair Grounds Sunday, but Reagan wasn't the only winner when Reagan's Decision (Unified) crossed the wire first in New Orleans. Before the race, trainer (and stepmom) Cherie DeVaux tweeted out that any purse earnings from the race would be donated to relief efforts following the devastating tornadoes in Western Kentucky. Visiting Reagan's Decision on the Fair Grounds backstretch Monday...

3rd-FG, $40k, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 3:01 p.m. Tom Amoss unveils the latest racing age addition to the Bertie family with pricey BARONNE (Into Mischief) taking to the starting gate in a turf sprint. Out of Bashful Bertie (Quiet American), herself a half to MGSW Hurricane Bertie (Storm Boot) and a full to graded-stakes winner/producer Allamerican Bertie, the colt brought $200,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale from agent AI Pike. A year later, as a 2-year-old going through the Fasig-Tipton Timonium sale (:10 1/5), he RNA'd for $420,000 from...

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...