NEW ORLEANS – For trainer Bret Calhoun, this Fair Grounds meet has been about finding ways to win without an abundance of talent in the barn. “We have a lot of horses with limited ability,” Calhoun said. “We’ve had a meet where we’ve just ground it out. That’s the way a lot of these horses are. They just grind it out. They kind of need a perfect trip to win. ... “We kind of knew it was going to be a struggle. We’d all like to have faster ones with more ability. It’s a game of peaks and valleys.” After getting off to a slow start at the meet, Calhoun, who since the early 2000s has ranked among the leading trainers at the track, has worked his way into a contending position in this season’s trainers’ race. Heading into Friday’s card, his horses had won 30 of 170 starts (18 percent), and he was tied with Joe Sharp for second in the standings, six wins behind Tom Amoss. “We’ve run a lot of horses,” Calhoun said. “Our percentages are not up to our usual standards. We were down at 12 or 13 percent a lot of the [meet]. It was a little disappointing, but it wasn’t surprising. In a way, it’s been a really bad meet, but we’re not too far out of it.” Recent victories by 3-year-old claimers Almasty and Trifecta illustrate how Calhoun has been making the most with the horses under his care. “We try to place them in the best spot possible,” he said. On Feb. 14, Almasty and Trifecta ran 1-2 in a race for $30,000 maiden claimers. Trifecta returned to competition March 7 at the same class level and won, and the next day, Almasty won by a half-length against $30,000 claiming non-winners of two. So, in four low-level starts with those two horses, Calhoun secured three victories and a second-place finish. A clear standout in Calhoun’s 50-horse Fair Grounds stable is the undefeated Texas-bred 3-year-old filly Promise Me Silver. Her six wins include five stakes victories at five tracks. Her last win was in the seven-furlong Two Altazano on Feb. 14 at Sam Houston. Calhoun said he’s considering either the six-furlong Instant Racing Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 11 or the seven-furlong, Grade 2 Beaumont at Keeneland on April 12 for her next start. Calhoun said he’s excited about two 3-year-old maidens owned by Stonestreet Stables – the Curlin colt Harvey and the Unbridled’s Song filly Adele Dazeem. Harvey broke slowly and chased a fast pace in his debut Feb. 21 before finishing third, nine lengths behind the talented Yockey’s Warrior, who ran six furlongs in 1:10.33. “I still like that horse,” Calhoun said of Harvey. “We have to see where he belongs distance-wise. He just ran into a buzz saw that day.” On the same day, Adele Dazeem finished sixth in her debut. “The filly was blocked the whole way that day,” Calhoun said. “I think she’s got a bright future.” Calhoun, who has 21 2-year-olds training at the Evangeline Training Center, said he’ll decide soon if any of them have shown enough talent to go to Keeneland this spring. Undoubtedly, he said, he’ll have a much different roster of horses next season at Fair Grounds. “It’ll be big turnover,” he said. It already has started. On Sunday, Calhoun lost two horses, including Almasty, to claims. The next day, Calhoun sold a horse. He sold two horses the previous week. He claimed two horses – one at Oaklawn Park and one at Fair Grounds – in the last few weeks. And more 2-year-olds might be on the way. On Tuesday, Calhoun left for Ocala, Fla., to attend the OBS sale of 2-year-olds in training. Perhaps his stable will be gaining an upgrade in talent. “Spring brings eternal optimism in this game,” Calhoun said.