'Blue Bayou' back to his forte

BOSSIER CITY, La. - J.D.'s Blue Bayou, an impressive winner of the Inaugural Handicap at Evangeline Downs in April, returns to the main track and a sprint distance on Sunday as he heads the field for the Arcadia Stakes at Louisiana Downs. The six-furlong sprint for Louisiana-bred 3-year-olds drew a field of 11 and carries a $50,000 purse.

After trying two turns on the grass in the Excalibur Stakes here on

May 15, J.D.'s Blue Bayou returns to the surface and distance back that has produced his last three wins. In addition to capturing the opening-night feature at Evangeline, J.D.'s Blue Bayou has also won allowance races here and at Fair Grounds. Also on his resume is a solid runner-up performance in the C.B. Stephens Memorial Stakes at Delta Downs just before the Inaugural. He continues to train steadily for trainer Troy Young, who has once again given the call to C.J. Woodley.

Young will also send out Smilin Fine, who will be coupled with J.D.'s Blue Bayou. Both horses are owned by Valene Farms and accounted for the exacta in the Inaugural. Although Smilin Fine has not enjoyed the same level of success as his stablemate, he did win the $100,000 Shine Young Futurity at Evangeline as a 2-year-old. Gerard Melancon will ride.

Crawfish King, idle since winning the Pioneer Stakes here last July, returns, making only his third career start. Trainer C.W. "Bubba" Cascio has put some excellent works into Crawfish King at Lone Star Park, where the barn is headquartered, including a bullet half-mile work in 46.60 seconds on May 11.

E.J. Perrodin will ride.

I Nv Slew is among six horses in the Arcadia field to have won their most recent start, but I Nv Slew has done one better by winning his last two, including a strong rally from off the pace in a local allowance sprint on May 7. Jose Riquelme will be in the saddle.

Badtotheboneandrew, the most experienced runner in the field with 14 previous starts, will make his first appearance in stakes company as a 3-year-old after being a regular at this level last year. He has one win this season, demolishing a group of statebred allowance foes in his final Fair Grounds start in March. Coming off a good second last time out, Badtotheboneandrew could be sitting on another big race for trainer Harry Hahn.