Amoss barn rebounds from shaky start to season

Trainer Tom Amoss went winless with three Fair Grounds starters Sunday – noteworthy for a barn that ended the year smoking.

Before Sunday, Amoss had gone 14-7-2-0 at Fair Grounds since Christmas, a far cry from his stable’s 3-24 mark to start this Fair Grounds season.

“The way I started the meet they were whispering behind my back, it was so bad,” Amoss said. “There are all kind of things that go into turning it around.”

Amoss’s most recent winner was Defeater, who debuted with a maiden-special-weight win, beating a live pair of Godolphin homebreds, Colonel Bowman and Gershwin, in the Saturday nightcap, a dirt sprint. Defeater broke near the back of the field and made a sustained rally to win by 2 1/4 lengths, his six-furlong time of 1:11.06 translating to a 76 Beyer Speed Figure. Defeater is by Union Rags out of Internal Affair, by Orientate.

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“He’s a good horse and he’ll be even better going farther,” Amoss said. “He’s not athletic out of the gate and I was worried about six furlongs because of that. The pace wasn’t quick and he still ran them down.”

Defeater likely will make his next start in a two-turn allowance race - when and where is yet to be determined.

Also uncertain is the next start for No Parole, but Amoss said the newly turned Louisiana-bred 4-year-old “is getting ready quickly.” No Parole hasn’t raced since finishing sixth in the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes on Oct. 2 at Keeneland, but posted two quick works on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 at Fair Grounds.

“Rather than talking about a specific race, it’s fair to say he’ll be ready to run by the end of the month,” Amoss said.

No Parole won the Grade 1 Woody Stephens by nearly four lengths June 20 at Belmont. Among his comeback options is the $100,000 Louisiana-bred Premier Sprint over five furlongs on Feb. 10 at Delta Downs.

*** The Fair Grounds Thursday card filled enough, but lacks a real feature. The highest-class fare is a female-restricted Louisiana-bred turf mile, race 4, with multiple allowance conditions and a $35,000 claiming option.