Louisiana-bred 2-year-olds in spotlight Friday

Day 2 on Friday of the 2015-16 Fair Grounds meet is the first Starlight Racing card of the season, the nine-race program beginning at 5 p.m. Central. The feature is race 2, a wildly competitive six-furlong dirt race for first-level Louisiana-bred 2-year-old allowance horses.

Special attention should be paid to the three horses exiting open races on the Kentucky circuit. Rocketringo scored a 78-1 second-start upset for trainer Michelle Lovell on Nov. 1 in a seven-furlong maiden race at Churchill, but he made the lead that day and might be outsprinted to the lead Friday.

Este Es beat seven foes in a Churchill maiden race in September before finishing a troubled ninth in the Juvenile Dirt Sprint at Keeneland.

The pick to win is John’s Luck, who showed improvement with blinkers added, finishing a close fifth last out in a Keeneland dirt-sprint allowance race.