Hartman has solid entrants in card's two turf stakes

Trainer Chris Hartman stabled at Fair Grounds for the first time during the 2017-18 race meeting and won six races from 64 runners. That’s considerably below his standard, and now, in Season 2, Hartman has tweaked his New Orleans string for the better. Through racing Monday, Hartman already had 10 wins and 11 seconds from 63 starters at the meet, and he has live runners in both stakes races Saturday – the $60,000 Lloyd Captain Maestri and the $75,000 Nelson J. Menard Memorial Overnight.

“I think this year, we adjusted a tad,” Hartman said. “Last year, I don’t know if we had the right kind down here. We sort of figured it out a little bit.”

Hartman also runs a winter string at Oaklawn Park. There’s no turf at Oaklawn, so Hartman has any grass-oriented horses at Fair Grounds, and both Saturday stakes are carded for turf.

The Maestri is for 3-year-olds at about one mile. Among the eight entrants is the Hartman-trained Corruze, who stands an excellent chance. Corruze debuted at Keeneland in October and scored a sharp four-length maiden win sprinting over a soft turf course. Hartman tried him on dirt in a Churchill Downs allowance race, caught slop, and saw his horse finish a distant sixth.

Back on grass Jan. 11 at Fair Grounds, Corruze showed he could race effectively on a firmer turf course, winning a first-level allowance by 1 3/4 lengths with a sharp move off the turn and into the homestretch. Now, the question is whether Corruze can transfer his clear turf talent to two turns. Hartman thinks he can.

“I’m confident he’s going to take to two turns as much as you can be without having tried it,” Hartman said. “I’ve been looking forward to him stretching out. I don’t think he’ll have a problem with the distance or the higher class.”

Corruze is by Into Mischief and out of Skygusty, by Skywalker. His dam raced effectively at distances as far as 1 1/8 miles.

The competition includes Spectacular Gem, who has displayed talent from the start but hit a new level in his turf debut Jan. 12. Spectacular Gem, trained by Jimmy Baker, got a soft trip, pressing an easy pace, but made the most of it, winning off by six lengths. He’s likely to face a more challenging pace dynamic Saturday with West Texas and Marquee Prince probably going forward. The former was a blowout maiden-claiming dirt-route winner in his only start, while the latter won a turf allowance race at Churchill by more than 12 lengths. But talk about having it easy: Marquee Prince made the lead, set a slow pace, and had only three rivals to defeat at Churchill.

Vivid Verse, like Corruze, has run in two turf sprints and won both.

The Menard is carded at about 5 1/2 furlongs and open to older fillies and mares, and Hartman’s hope in this bulky field is Excessivespending. Excessivespending laid an egg her first start this meet but ran far better Jan. 5, finishing third in the Pan Zareta Stakes after making the lead at the eighth pole under Mitchell Murrill, who was aboard for the first time.

“He actually put a good ride on her since she’s a little tricky,” Hartman said. “Just moved a hair too soon.”

Contributing, the Brad Cox-trained winner of the Pan Zareta, is back for another go Saturday, but the Cox-trained runner-up that day, Goldberry, is not. That’s good news for the other Menard hopefuls since Goldberry was much the best last time given her terrible trip. Contributing had a much better journey than her stablemate but doesn’t need an ideal setup to win again.

◗ The race separating the stakes (the Maestri is race 7, the Menard race 9) is a first-level, dirt-sprint allowance that includes the talented 4-year-old Bobby’s Wicked One. Bobby’s Wicked One last saw action Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, where he was a creditable fifth of 10 in the Grade 1 Malibu, won by McKinzie.