Hazards of Love worth cheering for

There are horses who develop early, who blaze out of the gates during the early summer of their 2-year-old season while many of their peers still are figuring out how to properly put one foot in front of the other, who run as fast in their first or second start as they will ever run again.

And then there are horses like Hazards of Love.

Actually, there really aren’t many horses like him.

Hazards of Love starts in the eighth race Thursday at Fair Grounds – and an excellent weekday feature it is, a second-level dirt-route allowance with a $40,000 claiming option that drew a whopping 11 entrants – and when the stall doors flip open, he will be racing for the 74th time. The 9-year-old, a feminine chestnut gelding, is owned by Maggi Moss and trained by Tom Amoss, and while that pair has made many outstanding claims, such as the stakes winner Delaunay, Hazards of Love ranks among the best.

Amoss and Moss claimed him for $10,000 in March 2013 at Delta Downs, and Hazards of Love has since earned back his purchase price a couple of dozen times over. He’s made 30 starts since that claim and has won 16 of them. In his third-to-last start, at age 8, Hazards of Love was entered for a $62,500 claiming tag and won.

Overall, he’s won 26 of his 73 races, and what makes that strike rate even more remarkable is that Hazards of Love lost the first 18 times he raced. And this is what makes Hazards of Love one of a kind.

He actually was precocious enough to debut in June of his 2-year-old season, way back in 2009. He wasn’t hapless, either, coming close to winning a couple of times in maiden special weight competition. But Hazards of Love got worse, not better, and by the time he finally did win, it was January 2011, and he was in for a $10,500 claiming tag.

That’s when something began to click, either physically, mentally, or both, and Hazards of Love changed hands through the claim box several times before Amoss and Moss hit the jackpot.

So, can Hazards of Love win his 27th race Thursday? It’s not out of the question. He’s in for the race’s $40,000 claiming option, and Hazards of Love finished second and third in races like this at the last Fair Grounds meet. Bet against him if you like – Coin Broker, The Sandman, and Great Stuff are three decent alternatives – but please, don’t hesitate to cheer if he gets home again.

◗ Three trainers who are part of the Fair Grounds horsemen’s track committee met with director of racing Jason Boulet and track superintendent Pedro Zavala on Saturday to express concern over what appeared to be a strong inside bias on the main track during the Feb. 20 multi-stakes card, and to ask that Fair Grounds maintain the surface in a uniform manner for upcoming major stakes days, according to Mike Stidham, one of the trainers present. Stidham said Zavala and Boulet told the group that the maintenance crew had done nothing out of the ordinary with the surface before the card, which included the Risen Star Stakes.

◗ Gun Runner on Monday had his first work since winning the Risen Star, going five furlongs in 1:02.80. Silverbulletday Stakes winner Stageplay went a half-mile in 52.20, while I’m a Chatterbox worked a half in 50.40.