Fair Grounds: Problems still exist on turf course

The weather was clear Tuesday in New Orleans. More of the same was forecast through Thursday. There has been no heavy rain since Dec. 30. It would be reasonable to expect Thursday’s featured sixth race, a third-level optional $62,500 claimer, to be contested, as carded, on turf. But no one knows what to expect right now on the Fair Grounds turf course.

The latest in the Fair Grounds turf saga came Sunday, Jan. 5, when racing was supposed to be conducted on a yielding course. Race 4, the card’s first on grass, went as planned, but within a half-hour, word came that the other two turf races had been moved to dirt. According to stewards, jockeys said horses were slipping on the far turn.

That is the same area where Fair Grounds performed off-season drainage system repairs. Additionally, the old turf was razed and a new grass sown last summer. By many accounts, the revamped course is better than last year’s course, but the turf still might not be draining properly. Between opening day, Nov. 22, and Jan. 5, there have been only 37 grass races. During the same period last season, there were 58 turf races.

The course has not taken much recent rain. The most recent significant rainfall occurred Dec. 30, when 3.1 inches of rain fell at the New Orleans airport. Since then, barely a half-inch of rain has been measured, yet in five racing days Fair Grounds has run only two turf races.

“A couple different riders have told me the course is much better this year, but you would think it would have dried more by now,” said trainer Paul McGee. “It’s pretty disappointing.”

It was McGee’s horse, Bad Student, ridden by Marcelino Pedroza, who had the most obvious problem going into the far turn in Sunday’s grass race.

“Marcellino said the horse slid,” said McGee. “He said the turf was very soft.”

Other riders in the race said their horses experienced no issues.

“My horse got over it good,” said Brian Hernandez Jr., who rode Marty the Monster to a fourth-place finish.

Jamie Theriot, who rode Ring Necked to a third-place finish in the race, said he had “no problems” with the course.

“It is what it is,” Theriot said. “We’ve been dealing with it for a long time here. New Orleans is below sea level. This course is never going to ride how firm turf courses ride.”

Multiple riders said not all the jockeys backed the plan to abandon turf racing Sunday. Fair Grounds officials either failed to respond to multiple requests for comment or when reached declined to comment on the course.

In any case, horsemen are approaching turf races with an eye toward the main track. The Thursday feature drew nine entrants, including three main-track-only horses, and two others far more proven on dirt than turf. If the race stays on grass, Mr. Vegas and Strike Impact look like the ones to beat, while Street Spice, third last out in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, will be formidable on dirt.