Cash Control solid favorite in New Orleans Ladies

It’s fair to say that trainer Brad Cox has been strong in the filly-and-mare turf-route division at this Fair Grounds meet. Believe in Bertie won the Pago Hop, Daisy Devine, and Red Camelia in her three stakes starts this winter, while Cash Control captured the Blushing K. D. With Believe in Bertie pointed to the Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs, it’s Cash Control’s turn to step to the plate again Saturday in the $50,000 New Orleans Ladies.

Both fillies are homebreds owned by the Klein family of Louisville, Ky. A principal in the ownership group, Bertram Klein, died this week.

Cash Control finished second as the even-money favorite in the 2016 New Orleans Ladies, a 1 1/16-mile grass race, but the horse who nipped her, Mizz Money, has talent and was in strong form, and Cash Control was in the midst of a long string of races without a real break. This time, Cash Control is a fresher horse.

After she faded to fourth Jan. 21 while racing over wet turf that she might not have loved in the Marie Krantz Memorial, Cox gave her a freshening, and Cash Control starts Saturday for the first time in two months. She brings tactical pace to a race lacking speed and figures to be forwardly placed and formidable at a very short price under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Prado’s Sweet Ride beat Cash Control in the Krantz but was less effective when finishing fourth behind Believe in Bertie in the Daisy Devine, and like Cash Control last year, she comes into the New Orleans Ladies after an active campaign. Perhaps Cox’s second starter, Selenite, who was a close and troubled fourth last out in the Jersey Lily at Sam Houston, can partner with her short-priced stablemate in the exacta.

◗ Mr. Al’s Gal has four wins and a second from her five starts, has won three straight Louisiana-bred stakes by open lengths, and is the leading Louisiana-bred 3-year-old filly training in the state. She absolutely deserves to be favored in the $75,000 Crescent City Oaks – but does not absolutely have to win.

Mr. Al’s Gal was a quick and precocious 2-year-old but has won her last two races around two turns at Delta Downs. Route racing at Delta, a bullring with an eighth-mile homestretch, is a different kettle of fish than route racing on the full-sized Fair Grounds oval, and Mr. Al’s Gal will now be asked to sustain her speed over a mile and 70 yards and through a quarter-mile-long home straight.

She might well be up to the task, but skeptical players might sniff around for an alternative to the short-priced favorite. One long-priced possibility, Rose Guitar, can be found on the far outside. Post 12 inhibits her chances, but Rose Guitar, from the first crop of Star Guitar, has come on strong in her last two starts, both at Delta, and gives the impression of a filly who will appreciate the added distance she gets Saturday.

Moonlightmidnight won her only two-turn race at Fair Grounds, a Louisiana-bred maiden race in January, by more than eight lengths and was unsuited to a fast-paced sprint in her most recent start.

◗ Underpressure has the best overall résumé in the $75,000 Crescent City Derby but also has a terrible post in the 1 1/16-mile dirt race for Louisiana-bred 3-year-olds. Underpressure breaks from post 13, and even as the presumed best horse in the race, that is a lot to overcome.

In from Oaklawn Park for trainer Chris Richard, Underpressure won the Premier Prince, a one-mile Delta stakes race in this division, by two lengths in February, and his subsequent fourth-place finish in an open Fair Grounds allowance race was probably even stronger. But the poor draw and relatively short price suggest that searching for other options could be time well spent.

The obvious one is Magic Vow, who was second to Underpressure in the Premier Prince and dead-heated with him one start earlier in the Pelican. But peel another layer away, and a case might be made for the longer-priced Imindycatbirdeat.

Imindycatbirdseat looked like he was willing to run through a brick wall when he forced his way out of trouble and convincingly won a Louisiana-bred sprint allowance at Fair Grounds in his most recent start. He is bred to stay his first two-turn trip and since that win has turned in eye-catching morning work, including a six-furlong drill in 1:12.60 on March 23.

◗ Jockamo’s Song will be favored to win his third race in a row in the $65,000 Costa Rising, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for Louisiana-breds. Jockamo’s Song has gone 3-0-1 from four Fair Grounds grass starts, but his margin for error Saturday is not large, and his draw in post 11 is not ideal. If Jockamo’s Song gets swept into a projected fast pace, the late runners Nubin Ridge and Rock N Sake could be heard from in deep stretch.