Fair Grounds notes: Rachel Alexandra field coming up tough
Fair Grounds stakes coordinator Scott Jones said he’s excited by the fillies headed toward the Rachel Alexandra, the final local stakes prep for the Fair Grounds Oaks.
Ria Antonia, trained by Jeremiah Englehart, and Streaming, being considered for the race by trainer Bob Baffert, are Grade 1 winners. Ria Antonia was placed first in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies after the disqualification of She's a Tiger. Streaming won the Hollywood Starlet and was second in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita.
Untapable, trained by Steve Asmussen, won the Grade 2 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs and was third in the Hollywood Starlet. Trainer Todd Pletcher, who nominated eight fillies for the race, said he’s strongly considering running Got Lucky. She won a mile maiden race Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park in her first start since finishing second in the Grade 2 Demoiselle in late November at Aqueduct.
Larry Jones trains two locally based fillies expected to run: Divine Beauty, runner-up in the Silverbulletday, and Cassatt, who ran away with a sprint against maidens Jan. 9 in her second start. Mike Maker trains Shanon Nicole, who routed first-level optional claiming rivals in a two-turn race switched from turf to dirt on Jan. 10. Army, who finished fourth in the Silverbulletday for trainer Pavel Vashchenko, is another locally based possibility for the race, Jones said.
“If this was the Fair Grounds Oaks itself, you’d say this is a great race,” Scott Jones said.
Entries for the Feb. 22 card, billed as Louisiana Derby Preview Day, close Monday.
Daddy Nose Best ready
The Feb. 22 card will have two Grade 3 races for older horses – the Fair Grounds Handicap on turf and the Mineshaft on dirt.
Daddy Nose Best, an Asmussen trainee who won the Diliberto Memorial and Grade 3 Colonel E.R. Bradley in his last two starts, is expected to run in the Fair Grounds Handicap. Other expected entrants are Adios Nardo, Gentleman’s Kitten, Hard Aces, Potomac River, Skyring, Slip and Drive, and Unitarian, and possible entrants are Speaking of Which and Vertiformer, Jones said.
At least nine horses, including Fordubai and Grand Contender, the one-two finishers in the Louisiana Handicap, are expected to run in the Mineshaft, Jones said.
At least eight older fillies and mares, including Pago Hop and Marie Krantz Memorial winner Eden Prairie, are expected to run in the Bayou Handicap, a two-turn turf race.