Bradley has more than one player for Saturday

NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Buff Bradley’s first meet-long foray since the early 1990s into Fair Grounds racing has not gotten off to a roaring start, but Bradley has horses of note to run on Saturday’s Road to the Derby Kickoff card.

Chief among them is The Player, the talented 5-year-old who could well be favored in the $75,000 Louisiana, the last of six stakes on a card headlined by the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte for 3-year-olds.

In race 3, a six-furlong maiden special weight race for 3-year-olds, Bradley will saddle the Tapit colt Tapability, the first foal to race from the champion Groupie Doll, whom Bradley trained during her career. Race 11, a maiden dirt route, marks the second start for 3-year-old Hours Truly, an attractive Is It True colt who’s a half-brother to The Player, who runs one race earlier.

The Player, a handsome chestnut 5-year-old horse, makes his first start since finishing fifth, beaten seven lengths, in the Grade 1 Clark on Nov. 24. The Player had won the Fayette Stakes on Oct. 28 at Keeneland in a performance impressive enough to make him a 9-2 shot in the Clark, but he didn’t really ever get involved in that race.

“He just never got comfortable in the Clark like we thought he would be,” Bradley said Tuesday morning at his Fair Grounds barn. “Early on, I was already thinking it just wasn’t going to be his race, that there was something going on.”

The Player shipped to New Orleans shortly thereafter and has put together an eye-catching series of works – two bullet five-furlongs, another near-bullet at the distance – under race rider Calvin Borel.

“Calvin’s been on him every time and said he just feels great,” said Bradley, who through Jan. 7 was looking for his first winner this meet after 11 runners.

Twelve were entered in the Louisiana, but The Player will face no more than 10 opponents since Dazzling Gem runs Friday at Oaklawn Park and will be scratched from the Fair Grounds race.

As for Tapability, he has logged plenty of work for his first start and obviously has a star pedigree, but Bradley tamped down expectations for his debut.

“He’s got some ability – we know that,” he said. “He’s colt and acts like it, but right now we see his attitude is changing, that he’s getting more serious the more work he’s done. He comes out well enough to be gate-carded, but he’s not real sharp out of the gate. He’s got the want-to to go after them even if he spots them a little bit. We might see a little better from him later on.”

The Player’s brother Hours Truly finished sixth sprinting in his career debut but rallied from 12th, and Bradley believes he will be a better route horse. He’ll get the chance to show that early Saturday evening.