Fair Grounds: Sunday feature is wide open

NEW ORLEANS – Sunday’s feature at Fair Grounds, a first-level turf allowance at about a mile, drew a full field of 14 older fillies and mares plus an also-eligible. Handicappers will be straining to make sense of this wide-open competition, the eighth race on a nine-race card.

Shea’s Lil Shug, trained by Pat Mouton, appears to have as good a chance as any of several legitimate contenders. A six-time winner, she finished a close fourth Dec. 20 against similar opposition with a less-than-ideal trip in her last start, and in her first race at the meet, she rallied nicely to defeat unconditioned $17,500 claimers.