Lacombe likely to be rained on to main track

In Pink Polkadots, the trainer Joe Sharp and owner Carl Moore have a very promising 3-year-old grass filly for the $100,000 Allen “Black Cat” Lacombe Memorial Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds. Problem is, they might not have a grass race for Pink Polkadots.

The Lacombe, carded for one mile on turf, could fall victim to a wet late-week forecast in New Orleans, which, as of Thursday morning, called for a strong chance of rain Friday into Friday night. If the rain comes, the Lacombe likely comes off turf, and Pink Polkadots comes out of the race. Sharp said he would redirect the filly into one of two spots, with the $400,000 Appalachian, a turf race at Keeneland on April 6, a considerably more likely spot than the $300,000 Bourbonette on March 23 at Turfway.

Pink Polkadots, by Candy Ride out of Tafaneen, by Dynaformer, not only has won the first two races of her career, she won both easily and never has been headed. On Dec. 31, she went wire to wire in a turf-route maiden, setting a pace – a half-mile in 47.63, taxing for the Fair Grounds course – fast enough that most young horses would have wilted. Instead, Pink Polkadots ran on to tally by 3 1/2 lengths over Ms Quality Control, who won her next start and is among the Lacombe entrants, and third-place Tarneema, who also returned to win her next outing.

:: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!

The story differed little Feb. 1 in a first-level turf-route allowance, with Pink Polkadots on a solo front-end mission that yielded a 3 1/4-length score over Way to Be Marie, another filly in the Lacombe. And Pink Polkadots, the mount of Jaime Torres, has been showing the right kind of speed, going along in a relaxed manner that leaves her with energy to quicken into the homestretch.

“She’s not a need-the-lead type at all, I don’t think,” said Sharp. “She’s kind, and everything about her in the morning is that way, too. She just does it that easy.”

Brad Cox trains Ms Quality Control as well as Lacombe entrant Pursuit of Liberty, who won her maiden in September on dirt and a first-level turf allowance Dec. 31. Since Pink Polkadots thumped her, Ms Quality Control has raced competitively in two sloppy main track starts, and Cox said he’d consider running both fillies if the Lacombe is moved to dirt.

It’s the Tom Amoss-trained Ba Dee Yah, however, who’s the most likely winner of an off-turf Lacombe. Ba Dee Ya, a $485,000 yearling purchase by Uncle Mo, was all right in a pair of turf route tries starting her career but has been better in two subsequent dirt performances. The last of those came Jan. 20, when she finished a well-beaten third, trying to rally into a slow pace in an allowance race won by Tarifa, who subsequently captured the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.