Fair Grounds: Good Deed a go on turf or dirt in Pan Zareta

Good Deed always looked like a nice horse on dirt, but her ceiling seemed limited to a Grade 3 or listed-stakes-type sprinter. Then, last May at Churchill Downs, her connections tried Good Deed on turf and discovered an entirely different animal. Good Deed won the Unbridled Sidney Stakes by more than four lengths in her grass debut, and on June 7, she won an open turf-sprint allowance at Churchill by five lengths, her five-furlong time of 55.73 seconds producing a Beyer Speed Figure of 110, the highest turf-sprint figure in North America during 2013.

But the enticing tease was all we got. Good Deed went to the sidelines in June with what trainer Steve Margolis termed “some minor little things – just wear and tear,” and she has just now made it back to the races as one of 14 fillies and mares entered in the $75,000 Pan Zareta Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds.

“We did the right thing giving her time, she’s working good, and we’re hoping for a big year,” said Margolis, who trains Good Deed for owners and breeders Richard and Bertram Klein.

Good Deed will start her season in the Pan Zareta, but might not get to start it on turf. Fair Grounds races were rained off grass Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and the track took another shower Thursday morning. Margolis, though, said Good Deed will be in the starting gate regardless of surface. Good Deed has won two stakes over the Fair Grounds main track, and blazed through a five-furlong work under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan on a sloppy track Dec. 22 in 57.20 seconds.

“She took Shaun for a ride,” Margolis said. “It was all he could do to hold on. But we were far enough out [from the Pan Zareta] I knew if she worked fast it’d be okay.”

Same Cross looks like Good Deed’s strongest rival on dirt, but will not start on turf, trainer Larry Jones said.

“I’d be happy to run her on a firm turf, but with all the rain we’ve had, it’s going to be soft, and I’m not going to run her on a course like that,” said Jones.

Same Cross is formidable on the Fair Grounds main track, capable of running down Good Deed. Same Cross debuted at Fair Grounds last season and ran off three straight victories on the main track, and she ran her local dirt record to 4 for 4 with a sharp-closing third-level allowance score Nov. 29.

“She’s got that long stretch here,” Jones said. “This track really suits her.”

La Song ran a career best winning a high-level turf-sprint allowance race at Keeneland in her most recent start, but that race came on a very firm course. Trainer Wayne Catalano said La Song had worked well enough on the Fair Grounds main track that he’d consider leaving her in the Pan Zareta even if the race is rained onto dirt.