Fulsome to skip New Orleans Classic, points to Oaklawn Mile

Fulsome’s connections took a long look at the New Orleans Classic, then decided to look elsewhere for the colt’s 4-year-old debut.

Fulsome wasn’t among the horses entered Saturday for the March 26 New Orleans Classic and instead will make his 2022 debut in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile on April 2, according to Brad Cox, who trains Fulsome for his breeder, Juddmonte Farm.

The New Orleans Classic is contested over 1 1/8 miles, a distance Fulsome can handle but one that’s less than ideal for a comeback race, and Olympiad, a rising star in the older-male dirt-route division, will be heavily favored in the New Orleans Classic.

“It’s a lot to ask first race back, the mile and an eighth,” Cox said. “We thought the mile plus another week would be better. He likes the track at Oaklawn, so this probably makes a little more sense.”

Fulsome wasn’t an elite 3-year-old last year, but his peak form got him to a level just below the top. He won the $300,000 Oaklawn Stakes before capturing the Grade 3 Matt Winn and the Grade 3 Smarty Jones, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby before getting a winter break. At age 3, Fulsome looked at least slightly superior to Warrant, whose second start this year at age 4 yielded a close second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.

:: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now!

Cox also said that Juju’s Map, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies behind champion Echo Zulu, is progressing nicely toward her 3-year-old debut. Time, however, is running out on the filly making the Kentucky Oaks. Juju’s Map had her third work since joining Cox’s barn at Fair Grounds when she breezed a half-mile in 48.40 on Saturday. The filly’s second work this winter, on March 12, initially went unrecorded by track clockers.

“She’s doing really, really well. Her works have been great. It’s getting to crunch time,” said Cox, who is cognizant that pushing too hard too early in the year can sour a young filly for the rest of a long season. “We want to have a horse for the whole year.”

Meanwhile, the year – and the career – is over for Louisiana-bred 4-year-old filly Australasia, who capped a strong first half of her 3-year-old season winning the Jersey Girl Stakes at Belmont Park. Australasia essentially was eased last July 10 in the Victory Ride Stakes and didn’t start again until Feb. 14, and after a tepid third-place allowance-race comeback finish, has been retired to become a broodmare.

“We wanted to see if she could get back to where she was last year, but she was just okay. It made more sense to go ahead and breed her,” Cox said.

Australasia, owned by Magnifico and noted French bloodstock agent Hubert Guy, is by Sky Kingdom out of the Tiznow mare Ayala Strand. She won six of eight starts.