Fair Grounds-based Willcox Inn may go to Blue Grass

Mike Stidham-trained horses are possible runners in major upcoming graded stakes races, including Willcox Inn, who finished second last Saturday in the Grindstone Stakes, his first race since a third-place finish last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Willcox Inn closed well through the stretch, unable to catch Great Mills, who coasted through soft splits on an uncontested lead.
“Considering everything, short of him winning, I was very pleased,” Stidham said. “I knew going in the seven and a half [furlongs] was far shorter than his best distance.”

No firm plans have been set, but Willcox Inn tentatively is being pointed to the Blue Grass Stakes on Keeneland’s Polytrack, over which he finished third in the Breeders’ Futurity in October.

The 3-year-old filly Snow Fall, meanwhile, is a possible runner in the Fair Grounds Oaks. Snow Fall finished second and third in a pair of turf sprints to start her career, but ran the fastest mile and 70-yard time of the meet while winning a two-turn dirt race by more than five lengths on Feb. 25.

“It’s asking a lot of her, but it’s a possibility,” Stidham said.