Bobby's Wicked One, Telekinesis battle in sprint allowance

A five-horse field to start a quiet Sunday card at Fair Grounds. Snoozeville, right? Wrong.

The Sunday lid lifter is a second-level allowance featuring a couple of talented 4-year-olds, Bobby’s Wicked One and Telekinesis.

Later on the card comes a co-featured race written under the same conditions, second-level allowance or $40,000 claiming, but carded for turf.

Bobby’s Wicked One is the 3-5 morning-line favorite, while Telekinesis is priced at 4-1. The odds gap between the two probably will be smaller at post time, and perhaps the talent gap isn’t all that great either.

Telekinesis turned in at least a slightly disappointing performance when he finished second by a neck at this class level and distance Jan. 9 while making his first start since August. The long layoff aside, Telekinesis was an odds-on favorite based on the ability he’d shown early in his 3-year-old season and some fine morning work that had left David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse, very eager to see Telekinesis back in action.

Telekinesis has come back to post more sharp work – including a five-furlong drill Feb. 23 in 58.60 seconds, basically an unheard of clocking at Fair Grounds – and if the listed price proves accurate, he’d offer value even considering the imposing presence of Bobby’s Wicked One.

Bobby’s Wicked One meets stronger foes following a first-level allowance win Feb. 2 at Fair Grounds, but this is no standard class riser. Bobby’s Wicked One ran one of the fastest six-furlong times of the meet last out and did so under a snug hold from jockey Miguel Mena, earning a 99 Beyer Speed Figure. In his previous start, he was a solid fifth in the Grade 1 Malibu, won in eye-catching fashion by the high-class McKinzie. Bobby’s Wicked One’s connections, Autumn Hills Farm Racing and trainer Al Stall, likely have an eye on stakes racing at Keeneland next month. First, their horse will have take care of Telekinesis.

Tasting the Stars to miss Oaks

The 3-year-old Bodemeister filly Tasting the Stars won’t start in the Fair Grounds Oaks because of a relatively minor injury, trainer Mike Stidham said.

Tasting the Stars had been generally aimed toward the local Oaks following her first-level, dirt-route allowance victory Feb. 8, that performance coming after an easy two-turn dirt debut win in a maiden race the month before. But a few days after the last win, the filly kicked her stall during a thunderstorm, resulting in a superficial cut on her pastern that became infected, Stidham said. Tasting the Stars has returned to training but hasn’t worked since her last race and won’t be ready to run again until after this meet ends.

◗ James Graham won two races to Adam Beschizza’s one on the Thursday card at Fair Grounds, taking a one-win lead in the jockey standings over Beschizza. Graham, a native of Ireland, and Beschizza, an English import, figure to take their battle all the way to the meet’s conclusion on March 24.