Fair Grounds notes: Albano among Lecomte probables

NEW ORLEANS – The field for the Lecomte, the first two-turn stakes prep for the Louisiana Derby, is taking shape slowly.

As of Thursday, Fair Grounds stakes coordinator Scott Jones listed Albano, Gold Hawk, Got Shades, Rainbow Trip, Roman Unbridled, and Vicar’s in Trouble as 3-year-olds headed to the Lecomte. Jones said he expects the field to grow before entries are taken Wednesday for that Grade 3 race on Jan. 18.

That Jan. 18 Road to the Derby Kickoff Day card will include four other stakes races: the Silverbulletday for 3-year-old fillies, the Grade 3 Col. E.R Bradley for older horses on turf, the Louisiana Handicap for older horses on dirt, and the Marie Krantz for older fillies and mares on turf.

The Lecomte and Silverbulletday, the first two-turn stakes prep for the Fair Grounds Oaks, are run at a mile and 70 yards. A small field looks likely for the Silverbulletday, Jones said Thursday. Fillies being pointed to the race include Divine Beauty, Unbridled Forever, Army, and Awesome Jill, with a few additions possible.

Larry Jones trains Albano, coming off a victory in the six-furlong Sugar Bowl on Dec. 21, and Divine Beauty, who is undefeated in two starts after winning the six-furlong Letellier that day.

Albano is a half-brother to Mark Valeski, a graded stakes winner who finished second in the 2012 Risen Star and Louisiana Derby.

“Just like Mark Valeski,” Larry Jones said. “He came off a six-furlong race to run second in the Risen Star. I feel good about Albano stretching out and about the filly as well.”

Dallas Stewart trains Unbridled Forever, who hasn’t raced since overpowering maidens in a seven-furlong race Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs in her second start.

Graham spreading business

Humble as usual, jockey James Graham said that agent Britt McGehee “deserves a lot of praise’’ for Graham’s success early in this meet.

“He’s done a remarkable job with limited resources,” Graham said, laughing.

Graham, who through Thursday led the jockeys’ race with 45 wins, also led in mounts with 214.

“That’s by design,” McGehee said. “He rides for everybody.”

“The cheap ones are your bread and butter,” Graham said. “The good ones don’t run as often as the cheap ones, so you have to ride the cheap ones, too. When you have an agent that works as hard as you do, it’s easy. He rides for the little guys, too. He rides for the big guys, the little guys, the guys in between.”

McGehee said that spreading Graham’s business was a plan for this meet.

“If you put all your eggs in one basket for one person and they dump you, you’re stuck,” McGehee said.

Judy Behler strikes again

A victory by the $10,000 Louisiana-bred maiden claimer By Appointment in the first race last Sunday gave trainer Judy Behler three wins from 11 starts at the meet. She reached a personal high for victories in a Fair Grounds season.

“I got lucky,” said Behler, who was running By Appointment for the first time since March. “Sometimes the stars line up for you.”

Behler, 56-year-old New Orleans native who has been training since 2008, has 15 victories from 273 career starts. Her current nine-horse stable – barn cats Seattle Slew and Secretariat don’t race – is a mix of low-level runners.

She owns By Appointment, whom she acquired by trading a filly. She also owns Knight of Honor, who won a claiming race last season at Fair Grounds. She bought him for $900.

Just Fly Away won two races in December in conditioned $5,000 claiming company.

“That filly with the two wins has got me another client, so I’m excited,” Behler said.

An old-timer in the barn is Silver Indy, a 13-year-old gelding with more than 90 career starts.

Behler, who said she learned about horses during years of riding hunter-jumpers, also spent time assisting her father, Frank Behler. He won 480 races in almost 30 years as a trainer.

“He taught me how to take care of legs,” Judy Behler said. “That’s for sure. Even when I had show horses.”

Cassatt impressive

Cassatt overcame tight traffic in a rout of 3-year-old maiden fillies Thursday, and trainer Larry Jones is putting her on a path toward the Fair Grounds Oaks.

Ridden by Rosie Napravnik, Cassatt, a daughter of Tapit, was racing for the first time since finishing third in a two-turn maiden race Sept. 20 at Churchill Downs in her debut. On Thursday, she barged between rivals in the final furlong and pulled away to win by 4 1/4 lengths, running six furlongs in 1:10.97.

“We got a lot of schooling in on her,” Jones said. “This was a perfect comeback race, the way it turned out.”

He said he’s planning to run Cassatt in the Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 22 and hopes to run her once before then. A possible race, he said, is the seven-furlong Allen’s Landing against males on Jan. 25 at Sam Houston.