Elsa has the spotlight in Shantel Lanerie Memorial Overnight Stakes

For a race that popped up out of the blue, the $60,000 Shantel Lanerie Memorial Overnight Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds has a couple of noteworthy entrants.

Carded at about one mile on grass for 3-year-old fillies, the Shantel Lanerie drew just six entrants, but three of them have flashed talent of consequence, headed by the Godolphin filly Elsa.

The morning line lists Elsa as a 2-1 favorite, but she’ll be a lower price than that, dropping in class for trainer Mike Stidham. Elsa shipped to Del Mar for her 2-year-old finale and came away with a 2 1/4-length win in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes, beating 11 rivals at one mile on grass.

Winter Sunset, a good-looking turf-route maiden winner in her only race, and Red Rounder, in from Florida, will have their work cut out trying to contain Elsa. Stidham also put Cypress Point into the race, while Winter Sunset’s trainer, Wayne Catalano, said he entered Liora in case the Saturday feature is rained onto dirt, which as of Thursday seemed unlikely.

Elsa ran two good turf sprints to start her career last summer, but was sunk by a boggy turf course third out at Laurel before acing her two-turn debut in the Durante. Stidham could have sent her to Florida for the Sweetest Chant Stakes last Sunday, but elected to stay at home for the Shantel Lanerie and point to the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks on March 9 at Tampa Bay Downs. Stidham has a string based at Tampa Bay, while Fair Grounds lacks six-figure stakes races in this division.

“That’s the plan of attack if it all works out,” Stidham said. “She traveled well back from California. We just lightened up on her after that, didn’t breeze her for a little bit, and she’s been doing well.”

Corey Lanerie has the mount on the favorite in a race named in memory of his late wife, who died last fall.

Meanwhile, Catalano has high hopes for Winter Sunset, a Tapit filly who’s the first foal to race out of Winter Memories, a multiple Grade 1-winning turf horse. Winter Sunset, Catalano said last month, hasn’t been totally straightforward since coming into his barn, but she is loaded with raw talent and didn’t just win her first start because of an easy pace setup.

Red Rounder was a close, troubled third Jan. 5 in the $100,000 Ginger Brew Stakes on the Gulfstream turf, hitting a peak in the fourth start of her career.

The Shantel Lanerie is carded as race 5, while race 8 could produce a starter for the March 23 Louisiana Derby. This is a first-level allowance with a $50,000 claiming option carded for one mile and 70-yards on dirt and likely to have Dream Maker as a favorite.

Dream Maker sharply won his career debut as an even-money favorite last June at Churchill Downs, but the rest of his 2-year-old season didn’t unfold smoothly. Dream Maker, trained by Mark Casse, never looked comfortable despite finishing a decent fifth in the Grade 1 Hopeful, his second start, and had a dreadful trip finishing 12th of 13 in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Casse got Dream Maker going this winter in Florida before sending him in January to assistant David Carroll at Fair Grounds, where Dream Maker has since worked steadily.

But at morning-line odds of just 9-5, Dream Maker seems likely to offer negative value, and the pick for a minor upset is Courtyard, who was claimed out of a sharp Fair Grounds win by trainer Tom Amoss. West Texas and Swordsman also rate a chance.