C Z Rocket favored to give Stall third straight Thanksgiving Handicap

Going racing Thanksgiving Day at Fair Grounds has been, since early childhood, a yearly ritual for New Orleans native Al Stall. These days Stall is training the winner of the day’s traditional feature, the Thanksgiving Handicap, on a yearly basis.

Yockey’s Warrior won the 2016 and 2017 Thanksgiving Handicap for Stall and company, and this year C Z Rocket could take up the mantle.

This Thanksgiving Handicap breaks from the recent tradition of short fields and only a couple truly plausible winners. There are 10 entered in the six-furlong dirt fixture, and the field’s quality is considerably stronger than the race’s $75,000 purse.

C Z Rocket is the 5-2 morning-line favorite, but Switzerland, winner of the Grade 2 De Francis Dash at Laurel this autumn, is the 122-pound starting highweight. Rounding out the top three contenders is Wynn Time, who makes his first start since April after emerging as a potentially top-class dirt sprinter last winter.

The Thanksgiving is carded as race 9, post time 3:05 Central, on a 10-race program with an 11 a.m. first post. The New Orleans forecast calls for a good chance of showers.

C Z Rocket is weighted at 119 for the Thanksgiving, the shortest race of his career. The 4-year-old debuted in September 2017, winning a 6 ½-furlong Saratoga maiden, and hasn’t run in a race over less than seven furlongs since. His close fourth going seven furlongs in a strong renewal of the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, a race in which Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner City of Light was second, marks him as the most likely winner Thursday if he adapts to the shorter trip.

“The older he’s gotten it seems like the shorter he wants to go,” said Stall, who trains C Z Rocket for Frank Fletcher. “His pedigree is sprint on sprint really. He’s got to find some sort of niche in this game, so we’ll try this and see what happens.”

Trainer Hugh Robertson gave Illinois-bred Wynn Time a break following his close third-place finish April 14 in the Grade 3 Count Fleet at Oaklawn Park. Wynn Time had raced steadily last year since August, developing rapidly through the winter, and Robertson wanted to point for another winter and spring campaign. Wynn Time missed a work at Fair Grounds after contracting a minor fever following the ship from Chicago, Robertson said.

“He’s doing well but he might not be on top of his game yet,” said Robertson. “He’s fresh, though. He could run well.”

Switzerland can win Thursday with one of his best races, but showed little as the odds-on favorite racing over a sloppy Churchill track Sept. 23 in the Bet On Sunshine Stakes. This past spring, Switzerland won the Maryland Sprint over a sloppy Pimlico track.

Chublicious finished second in this race a year ago and starts for the first time since a trip to Korea. Proforma boosted his form on turf this summer and fall and won his only Fair Grounds dirt start, and he has a chance at fair odds. Talented Colonelsdarktemper makes his first start since May at a distance shorter than his best and with a tough rail draw.