Fair Grounds: Stall stars gearing up for returns

NEW ORLEANS – For trainer Al Stall Jr., a local boy made good, this has been a fairly quiet winter at Fair Grounds, where he has lamented the purse cuts and quality of racing, factors that led to him giving his stable stars an easier winter than might have been expected.

But the elite runners in his barn are ready to go forth, fully refreshed. Central Banker, his top sprinter, is set to go to Aqueduct for the Grade 1, $500,000 Carter on April 5, his female sprinter Apropos is heading to Keeneland for the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison on April 12, and the best horse in his barn, Departing, is nearing a comeback after being off since the Oklahoma Derby last Sept. 29, when he finished a dull fourth as the 3-10 favorite.

“We went to the well once too often with [Departing],” Stall said at his Fair Grounds barn Wednesday. “He ran a great race in the Super Derby, in 98-degree weather. We ran him back 22 days later in the [Oklahoma] Derby because the $400,000 purse was sitting out there, but he was flat. We gave him a nice, long break, and he’s come back nice and fresh.”

Stall said Departing is pointing for a return at Churchill Downs the first week of the meet there. “He’s on schedule for the Alysheba,” Stall said of the Grade 3, $300,000 race run on Kentucky Oaks Day, May 2.

Central Banker and Apropos had more recent starts, but Stall said the small purses for their divisions here made giving them a brief vacation the more prudent move.

Central Banker has not raced since finishing a good second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

“The purses for sprints here were gutted, and we’d have been catching horses like Delaunay and Heitai,” Stall said, referring to a pair of outstanding local sprint specialists.

Apropos has not run since winning the American Beauty at Oaklawn on Jan. 25.

“She’s a very talented horse. There just hasn’t been anything for her worth running in, so we waited for the Madison,” Stall said.