Embellishing Bob a serious contender in sprint

Just looking at the bookends, races 1 and 9, one might guess that this is the best Thursday card of the Fair Grounds meet, and what lies between those two 3-year-old maiden special races that start and end the program does nothing to contradict the notion.

There are only three claiming races on the card. Besides race 1, a dirt-route maiden special, and race 9, a turf-sprint maiden special, the program includes a second-level turf optional claimer for Louisiana-breds (race 3), a first-level turf-sprint allowance (race 5), and two second-level optional-claiming races (the 7th and 8th).

The weather forecast, however, is iffy, with a chance of rain Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

The opener lies in the celebrity zone at this time of year, 3-year-old dirt-route horses, but from what they’ve shown, none of the six entered are future stars. Tale of Verve is the likely favorite but clearly vulnerable.

Turf or dirt, Fist Full might be the right one in race 3, the Louisiana-bred grass optional claimer. The concern with Fist Full is that he blossomed from a $5,000 claimer to a serious statebred allowance horse in a matter of a couple of starts, and after three straight peak races, his form could be subtly sliding.

The Joe Sharp train, which has been rolling smoothly from station to station at this meet – the last six weeks in particular – should keep chugging in race 5, the first-level sprint allowance. Sharp, now up to second in the trainers’ standings with 27 wins to Tom Amoss’s 35, nearly won off the claim with Liberal Spin on Feb. 12 in a race like this, and that despite Liberal Spin breaking last from the No. 12 post.

Race 7, the second-level turf-sprint optional claimer for older fillies and mares, includes Bahnah, one of the better early-season 2-year-old fillies of 2013, who is set to start for the first time in more than 15 months. Her best chance might come with a rain-off, as Hugh Robertson has a capable pair in Mia Bee A and Enchanted River and trainer Mike Stidham sends out the fast-working layoff runner Zubi Zubi Zu, the pick for a mild upset.

And finally, there’s race 8, a second-level dirt-sprint optional claimer that might not be the best betting race of the day but still rates as the nominal feature.

RACE 8

KEY CONTENDERS

Embellishing Bob (Last 3 Beyers: 86-87-82)

◗ He lost by a nose (and was placed first via disqualification) to eventual Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern in the Derby Trial last year, which means he’s a serious horse.

◗ Off from June to Feb. 6, he finished a close third in his comeback start, a decent performance but one in which he looked rusty. Embellishing Bob has since turned in two snappy half-mile drills for trainer Steve Margolis, and he improved with racing last winter at Fair Grounds.

The Trunk Monkey (Last 3 Beyers: 87-86-86)

◗ He finished just in front of Embellishing Bob last out in his own long-layoff comeback start, but rather than seeing the race as a stepping-stone to improvement, trainer Larry Jones has concerns. “I don’t know if he’ll improve. I’m afraid he might bounce, it was such a big effort after a long layoff,” Jones said.

◗ He broke from the rail last out, a negative for a horse who takes a couple strides to gather himself.