Built is back and might not need to be any better than he was in May to win the featured seventh race Friday at Fair Grounds. Unraced since May 3, Built ran in five stakes, four graded, after clearing the maiden ranks, and his return comes in a second-level allowance. Carded for about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, the race will likely wind up on a wet main track, with fairly heavy and sustained rain forecast Thursday into Friday. That would take one unknown variable – turf – out of the equation, while leaving open the distance question. Built finished fourth making his debut over six furlongs, the shortest race he has run, before winning at seven furlongs and switching to route racing last season at Fair Grounds. Wayne Catalano, who trains Built for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, looks at this contest as a race to win rather than a mere launching pad for a winter campaign, and Catalano had Built ready to run in November. Two weeks ago, he put Built in a six-furlong dirt allowance race that failed to attract sufficient entries, and Catalano said the bullet workouts Built has been posting weren’t merely fast. “He had a great work out of the gate the other day. What’s on paper, that’s how he’s been doing,” Catalano said. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Built ran his way onto the Kentucky Derby trail, impressively winning the Gun Runner over 1 1/16 miles about a year ago. But even that short route trip, Catalano believes, stretches Built’s distance limitations. Catalano hoped to skip one of the 3-year-old route stakes last Fair Grounds season, but Built ended up in all four such races, and by the time connections cut him back in trip for the Pat Day Mile, Built’s form had crumbled. Should Friday’s race remain on turf, Monsieur Candy holds appeal at a square price. He performed well in his two starts over the Fair Grounds grass course and at Keeneland in October finished third of 10 in a race similar to this despite totally blowing the start. On dirt, Built’s competition comes from the main-track-only entrant Save the Trees, but even more so from Go Captain, who hasn’t raced since June but won a comeback start about a year ago in stylish fashion. DeVaux takes aim at stakes Trainer Cherie DeVaux, who has found great success with young grass horses, said she’ll have a steady presence this Fair Grounds season in dirt maiden, allowance, and stakes races for 3-year-olds of 2026. DeVaux plans to run the colt Mesquite, who overcame his own inexperience to win a dirt-route maiden Nov. 7, in the $100,000 Gun Runner on Dec. 20. But Atropa, a good closing second last weekend in the Grade 2 Golden Rod, will sit out December racing and await the $150,000 Silverbulletday on Jan. 17. Atropa, who won a Keeneland dirt-route maiden in October by 10 lengths, rallied steadily in the Golden Rod to miss victorious Bella Ballerina by a half-length. “She settled well behind horses, took dirt, came with a really nice run, and made up a lot of ground when asked,” DeVaux said. “That bodes well for her wanting to go farther than 1 1/16 miles.” The 2-year-old colt Englishman will be back under tack in the “next couple weeks,” DeVaux said. Englishman turned heads Sept. 19 at Churchill Downs winning a seven-furlong maiden by more than seven lengths, posting a 97 Beyer Speed Figure, but after three timed workouts in October, Englishman required a break from training. She Feels Pretty, who should be champion older turf mare this year, remains on winter holiday in Florida. DeVaux said that all being well She Feels Pretty will stick to the same schedule as in 2025, when she made her seasonal bow in the Modesty on May 2 at Churchill. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.