For those who are not able to make the scene in New Orleans and enjoy the Louisiana Derby festivities on Saturday, they can always rustle up a few po’ boys, dip into a tureen of seafood gumbo, and crank up Dr. John’s greatest hits on the box while they watch War of Will, Country House, and the rest of the fine young animals scramble for a spot in the Kentucky Derby field.Or they can call Bob Fortus.By his count, Fortus has been a Louisiana Derby devotee since at least 1980, when he was teaching statistical theory at Tulane and playing the ponies as time and folding green allowed. Bob’s natural inclination toward sport – he ran track in college – drew him eventually to work among the ink-stained wretches at the Times-Picayune, where soon he became their lead Thoroughbred racing writer and behaved that way with decades of precise, comprehensive reporting.Or is that some other Bob Fortus in the Fair Grounds Press Box Hall of Fame alongside Bob Roesler, Ronnie Virgets, and the fabled Allen “Black Cat” Lacombe? Nope.Fortus also has filed for The Blood-Horse and Daily Racing Form and co-authored, along with Gary West, “Ride to Win: An Inside Look at the Jockey’s Craft,” so if a true fan has missed his work they really haven’t been paying attention. Anyway, Bob’s legs aren’t what they were when he was pounding the racing beat from coast to coast, but he is still present and accounted for this week at Fair Grounds and more than delighted to answer an innocent question like, “What are some of your favorite Louisiana Derby recollections?”I forgot to pack a snack.As memories go, Fortus has one of those equipped to absorb and store details of all fascinating shapes and sizes. In the end, it seemed best to treat the exercise as a racing Rorschach, tossing out the name of a winner and letting him take the bit. So it began.Violado, 1985: “I covered that one. Jacinto Vasquez rode him. They beat Eddie Maple and Creme Fraiche by a nose. I guess there was no love lost between them – from several years back in New York – and they made it clear after the race.”J.T.’s Pet, 1987: “I have a picture of J.T.’s Pet in his stall, sticking his tongue out, and I’m grabbing his tongue. Bill Mooney took the picture, and it’s still on my refrigerator.”Dispersal, 1989, in only his third start: “He was just a pup. Clearly a very good horse, but not really ready to try something like the Kentucky Derby. He proved it later in the year by winning a big race in New York [the NYRA, now Cigar, Mile].”Kimberlite Pipe, 1999: “That was a great Louisiana Derby, three horses on the wire, with Answer Lively and Ecton Park right there. A friend of mine has Kimberlite Pipe on her farm in Folsom. I see him every once in a while.”Peace Rules, 2003: “That’s when Bobby Frankel discovered the Louisiana Derby. Kafwain finished second but was later disqualified for a drug violation” – a clenbuterol overage – “and Funny Cide, the Kentucky Derby winner, was third. I’ve always said you don’t want to see them run their best race in one of the preps.”Hero of Order, 2012, at odds of 109-1 for trainer Gennadi Dorochenko: “That guy blasted everyone after the race for being idiots for not picking his horse. It was a horrible experience, not memorable.”Fortus saves his highest praise for Risen Star, winner of the 1988 Louisiana Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, along with an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old colt for owner-trainer Louie Roussel III.“I remember watching him gallop as a 2-year-old – he was a giant horse – and Louie said, ‘He’s going to win the Belmont, that horse,’ ” Fortus said. “It was before he even ran, and Louie was no blowhard. “A friend and I drove to Shreveport for his first start, and it was a hard drive, before the interstate,” Fortus added. “We were going to bet on him, a first-time starter in a stakes race, but he went off at odds-on. He was probably the best horse I ever saw at the Fair Grounds.”Rosie Napravnik was the first woman to win the Louisiana Derby, with Pants On Fire in 2011 (she added a second in 2014 with Vicar’s in Trouble), while Pat Day holds the all-time record with five Louisiana Derby wins, beginning with Country Light in 1986 for Steve Penrod and Cherry Valley Farm.Both of those historical notes would have been altered, however, had the results from the 1992 Louisiana Derby survived a stewards’ inquiry. Colony Light finished first in the race with Line in the Sand, under Day, running second. “That was Julie who got disqualified,” Fortus said, referring to the retired Hall of Famer whose plaque I dust daily, and solving the question as to why there is no Louisiana Derby trophy in the case with “Krone” engraved on it.“And I bet on her, too,” Fortus said. “It was a shame. She came in on the horse on the inside, Hill Pass I think. But as far as I was concerned she was on the best horse. I believe even Allen Lacombe bet on Colony Light, which, if you think about it, might be why it happened.”