One will understand if Declan Cannon awakens Sunday morning in New Orleans filled with concern. That’s because, on Sunday afternoon, Cannon is booked to ride the 3-year-old filly Pondering in the co-featured sixth race. Twice this winter, trainer Brendan Walsh has given Cannon a leg up on Pondering and sent horse and rider out into Fair Grounds competition. And twice this winter, Cannon and Pondering have gone their separate ways during those races. On Jan. 20, Pondering took a clear lead to the stretch call as the favorite in a first-level allowance, but instead of running on to victory, Pondering ran into the rail, unseating Cannon. Horse and jockey escaped unscathed and returned for another try at the class level Feb. 17. This time, Pondering wasted little time dislodging Cannon – a bad stumble at the start, and down he went. Third time, surely, will prove a charm, though Pondering probably has left Walsh and her owner-breeder, Godolphin, scratching their collective heads. The Hard Spun filly notched a sharp debut win at Ellis Park last July – sharp enough that Walsh sent her to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Spinaway. Sent off at 5-1, Pondering began retreating before turning for home and wound up beaten more than 23 lengths. A sloppy track might have been blamed, and Pondering got a second Grade 1 chance in the Frizette at Aqueduct. But there she ran even worse, finishing far up the track, last of seven. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. While Pondering, despite those four ugly running lines in her past performances, can’t be dismissed, Modo figures to be the horse to beat. The Tom Amoss-trained filly dueled and faded late finishing fifth in her career debut at Churchill Downs, a race won by subsequent stakes-winner Her Laugh. Modo scored a front-running Oaklawn Park maiden win second out, then took advantage of her Texas-bred status to boss statebred-, age-, and sex-restricted rivals around in the $75,000 Bara Lass at Sam Houston. Modo hasn’t raced since that Jan. 25 start, but she has posted five workouts at Fair Grounds and should be set to win her third straight. Moonlight hard to trust If, as forecasted Friday, rain falls Saturday afternoon and evening, the co-featured seventh, a nonwinners-of-two allowance, likely will be moved from turf to dirt. But while Moonlight figures on either surface, he hardly is a horse to be trusted. Trained for his first eight starts by Todd Pletcher and in his last four by Chris Block, Moonlight’s second-out maiden win in September 2023 came in blowout fashion and yielded a 90 Beyer, a performance that still stands as an outlier. Moonlight since has lost 10 in a row, though he did turn in a solid turf showing last out after breaking from post 12, and two back, in a dirt race, Moonlight faced stronger foes than he’d meet on the main track Sunday. Sand Pipes rates a strong chance on turf, while Next Level comes into play in the event of a rain-off. And here’s hoping Mr. Cannon and Ms. Pondering can keep themselves attached Sunday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.