Fair Grounds opens meet with positive signs

It’s not as stark as night into day, but the landscape has brightened considerably at Fair Grounds.

The historic New Orleans track bottomed out during its 2013-2014 season, but an overhaul of the turf course, other capital investments, and at least a mildly renewed commitment to racing – all pushed by the Louisiana state legislature – have led to actual optimism as the track begins its 2016-2017 meet Saturday.

That’s evidenced by the presence of several outfits that either have never been based at Fair Grounds or closed down New Orleans strings seasons ago, a list that includes Mark Casse, Ken McPeek, Tom Proctor, Scott Becker, Ron Moquett, Jeremiah Englehart, Tom Morley, and Ingrid Mason.

“We had to make some tough decisions, give a few stalls less to certain trainers, but that opened things up,” said track president Tim Bryant.

Bryant said there were 1,400 horses on the backstretch early this week, about 400 fewer than capacity, which will be reached about Dec. 1.

Fair Grounds now has had two seasons of a reliable grass course to lure stables seeking winter turf opportunities. Drainage problems during the 2013-2014 meet limited turf use to 149 races. Last year, there were 227 grass races which averaged 9.3 starters.

“I think it’s pretty clear the turf has been a differentiator for us,” Bryant said.

Fair Grounds averaged 8.38 starters per race last year, its best number since 2011-2012. The percentage of winning favorites peaked four years ago when starters per race fell below eight, but favorites won at a 36 percent clip last year.

Handicappers would be wise to give second looks to rail-drawn runners in six-furlong dirt races: Horses breaking from the fence won at a 24 percent rate in 210 such races last season. Wide draws were difficult to overcome in turf sprints: Posts 9 and higher produced two winners from 68 starters last meet.

Two seasons ago, Fair Grounds brought back one-mile dirt races – awkward affairs that end at the sixteenth pole – and leaned heavily on them in 2015-2016, when there were 149 such races compared with just 20 1 1/16-mile dirt races. Horses drawn outside post 7 generally were disadvantaged going one mile.

Mike Stidham edged Joe Sharp for leading trainer last season, but Tom Amoss was the return-on-investment king, with 35 winners producing a $2.71 ROI. Trainer Brad Cox’s turf-heavy string made hay on grass, going 22-5-8 from 53 turf starters while yielding a $2.28 ROI. Steve Asmussen won 11 races and had a $0.88 ROI two seasons ago, numbers that ticked up to 16 percent and $1.64 during 2015-2016.

Last season’s top 10 jockeys return, headed by Florent Geroux, while DeShawn Parker, C. J. McMahon, David Flores, and Gabriel Saez have moved their tack to New Orleans.

The meet’s biggest day, Louisiana Derby Day, is April 1. Road to the Derby Kickoff Day is Jan. 21, and Louisiana Derby Preview Day is Feb. 25.