Delta Downs: Little Ms Protocol switches back to dirt for Magnolia

Little Ms Protocol will be making what could be a permanent surface switch Friday night, when she returns to dirt for the $100,000 Magnolia at Delta Downs. The one-mile race is restricted to fillies and mares bred in Louisiana, and it drew a field of eight, including Churchill Downs invaders Guadalupe High and Ante Up Annie. For several, the race will be a springboard to Louisiana Champions Day next month at Fair Grounds.

Little Ms Protocol is headed in that direction, but the first order of business is the Magnolia. She enters off a fourth-place finish in the $100,000 Louisiana Cup Distaff run on turf at Louisiana Downs. She was the favorite and ran evenly in what was a rare turf start for the filly who won on the grass earlier in her career.

“I don’t think I’m going to run her on turf anymore,” said Patrick Devereux, who trains Little Ms Protocol for Coteau Grove Farms. “She holds her own and she runs well on it, but she doesn’t quicken over it.”

In addition to the move back to dirt, the return to Delta suits Little Ms Protocol. She is 5 for 7 over the local track, among her wins the $150,000 Premiere Night Distaff in February. Little Ms Protocol is invading from the Evangeline Downs Training Center near Lafayette, La.

“Our racetrack here at the training center is really compatible with Delta,” Devereux said. “They don’t seem like the same kind of surface, but the horses just come out of here and do great at Delta.”

Devereux said Little Ms Protocol is a candidate for the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies, a race in which she finished second a year ago. For the Magnolia, she will break from the rail under regular rider Diego Saenz.

“There’s a lot of speed in this race,” Devereux said. “I don’t know if they’ll all go or not. It looks to me that she could come from pretty far out of it.”

Guadalupe High is returning to Delta, where she is 2 for 2, following a Churchill start in which she finished sixth in the Grade 3 Dogwood. Gerard Melancon has the mount for co-owner and trainer Ronny Werner.

Valene Farms and trainer Dallas Stewart, who on Saturday have the Louisiana-bred Designer Legs in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, send in Fair Grounds stakes winner Ante Up Annie.