Kenneally can win with Miss Bigly off the claim

Trainer Eddie Kenneally doesn’t play much in the claiming game, but when he has, he’s done well. Nine of the last 30 horses claimed by Kenneally won their first start for the barn, and Miss Bigly looks live off a Kenneally claim in the featured eighth race Thursday at Fair Grounds.

Miss Bigly was haltered for $30,000 by Kenneally – who claimed the 4-year-old Gemologist filly for himself – on Jan. 31 and looks good enough racing under a second-level allowance condition in a sex-restricted race also open to $40,000 claimers that she’s 5-2 on the Fair Grounds morning line.

:: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Miss Bigly has made nine of her 13 starts on grass, but has won her last two dirt races after they were taken off the turf – a first-level allowance in September at Churchill and the race from which she was claimed last month.

Miss Bigly and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. figure to have Diamondcoat to run down in this dirt race carded for a mile and 70 yards. Diamondcoat exits a pair of Fair Grounds sprint races but has scored four of her five career wins at distances at or similar to Thursday’s, and if she slips clear on the front end, she’s a threat to wire this field at a fair price.