Divisions of Louisiana Futurity top strong card

On the 366th day of 2020 there are two potential standouts in divisions of the $100,000 Louisiana Futurity.

Swot Analysis, in particular, looks formidable in the colts and geldings division, which goes as race 2, while Big Time appear to hold a meaningful edge in the fillies division, the last of 10 races on a good, playable New Year’s Eve racing program.

Swot Analysis debuted in an open maiden special weight Nov. 1 at Churchill Downs, dueling on the lead and fading to finish a distant sixth, but it was a different story when this Anchor Down colt returned Nov. 27 at Fair Grounds in a Louisiana-bred maiden sprint while racing on Lasix for the first time. Swot Analysis crushed his rivals that day, winning by almost 10 lengths going 5 1/2 furlongs while still racing somewhat green through the homestretch.

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Louisiana Champions Day, including the $100,000 Champions Day Juvenile, came up Dec. 12, but that was too quick a return for Swot Analysis, who instead worked an easy half-mile that morning. He’s come back with two more drills for trainer Mark Casse’s Fair Grounds division, and with a decent break since the blowout maiden win, Swot Analysis should be especially formidable Thursday. With Declan Carroll named on a return call, Swot Analysis is listed at 5-2 on the track’s morning line but looks more like an odds-on favorite facing just six foes. Guice, who won his debut nicely enough for trainer Ron Faucheux, could wind up second choice in the betting.

Big Time’s challenge is repeating her dominant Dec. 12 performance in the Champions Day Lassie while racing with less than three weeks’ rest. Big Time’s cause is aided by the fact she appears to be the most talented filly among 10 entered in this six-furlong sprint.

Trained by Dallas Stewart, Big Time is unbeaten in two starts, having shown enough ability to win an open Churchill maiden race in her career debut this past June. Racing over a muddy track, she stalked the pace and took command of the Lassie in upper stretch, winning by 3 1/2 lengths. Big Time need only repeat that performance level to land her second stakes win of the meeting, with Rue Lala perhaps the main danger.

Trainer Steve Asmussen didn’t like Rue Lala’s rail draw in the Lassie, surmising – correctly – that she’d take too much pace pressure from that post position and come up short while making her first start in nearly three months. Rue Lala flattened out to finish fourth in the Lassie, but where Big Time could be vulnerable to regression Thursday, Rue Lala should be sitting on an improved performance.

Asmussen also has the horse to beat in one of the card’s several allowances, race 7, a first-level turf route for 2-year-olds also open to $50,000 claimers. Arm Candy had an abysmal trip when fifth as the favorite in a race like this Dec. 5 at Fair Grounds, her path blocked by rivals most of the homestretch. The biggest obstacle she might have to overcome Thursday is weather, with a strong chance of New Orleans rain threatening to move turf races like this one to the main track.