Fair Grounds: Istanford 'ready to go' in return

Fair Grounds’s Thursday card gets off to a slow start with a pair of inscrutable Louisiana-bred maiden claimers, but actually is unusually substantive for a mid-week program. Race 4 is a hot-looking 2-year-old maiden special weight sprint; race 7 is a first-level two-turn turf allowance for 2-year-old fillies; and race 8 is a second-level dirt-sprint allowance for older fillies and mares.

The seventh, the 2-year-old filly allowance which is also open to $75,000 claimers, is carded at about one mile on grass and drew a field of nine, among them a horse named Istanford. Istanford debuted Aug. 18 at Arlington in a two-turn turf race and immediately caught the eye, setting a solid early tempo and drawing away to win by five lengths. She returned just 20 days later in the Arlington-Washington Lassie on Polytrack, this time dueling on a hot pace and, for a second-time starter coming back on short rest, holding very well for a close fifth.

Istanford hasn’t started since the Sept. 7 Lassie, but she has breezed like clockwork at Fair Grounds since early November for trainer Mike Stidham, who deemed her “fit and ready to go.”

Istanford has worked decently enough on dirt that Stidham said he probably would leave her in Thursday’s race even if wet conditions force a move from turf to dirt.

“She hasn’t worked super on dirt, but she hasn’t worked poorly, either,” said Stidham.

There appear to be three other major players in the race: Synapse, who showed grass ability this summer at Louisiana Downs, and Ready’s Legend and Shannon Nicole, the one-two finishers in a Nov. 26 Churchill grass allowance.

Race 8, the sprint allowance, matches Interest Free and Gator Zone, a pair of Fair Grounds maiden winners last season. Interest Free is set to make her first start since May, when she went to the sidelines after winning two of three starts, including both her dirt races. Interest Free, an Exchange Rate filly trained by Neil Howard, has worked steadily since Nov. 9, but cedes recency to Gator Zone, who was third and fourth in a pair of Kentucky turf sprints this fall.

The 2-year-old maiden sprint, race 4, is loaded with interesting prospects, including once-started Unknown Road, who makes his first appearance for trainer Al Stall; twice-started Speightshill, beaten a neck by the talented Albano on Nov. 24 at Fair Grounds; and Jesse James and Glacken Too, first-time starters who have been posting morning works that suggest they are ready to tackle more seasoned rivals Thursday.