Luv Your Neighbor headed to Ashland or Virginia Oaks

The 3-year-old filly Luv Your Neighbor has, remarkably, finished second four times during this Fair Grounds meet. She’s unlikely to do so again because Luv Your Neighbor probably won’t contest the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 21, trainer Michael Stidham said Monday.

Second in the Untapable in December and the Silverbulletday in January, Luv Your Neighbor seized a homestretch lead from heavily favored pacesetter Bella Ballerina in the Rachel Alexandra last month, but Bella Ballerina came back along the fence to win by 1 1/4 lengths, going away. Bella Ballerina, who had her first post-Rachel Alexandra workout last weekend, runs back in the Fair Grounds Oaks, with Luv Your Neighbor likely for either the Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland or the $250,000 Virginia Oaks on March 14 at Colonial Downs.

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Meanwhile, Stidham plans to have two runners, 4-year-olds Montador and Tom’s Magic, in the $300,000 Muniz Memorial on March 21, Fair Grounds’s most important grass race. Montador finished a somewhat troubled second behind Lagynos in the Fair Grounds Stakes, while Tom’s Magic, in his seasonal bow, came home second Jan. 31 in the Tampa Bay Downs Stakes, won in a romp by loose leader Quatrocentro. The Muniz’s 1 1/8-mile distance suits both horses, Stidham said.

Think Big, who won a pair of Grade 2 turf-sprint stakes as well as the Grade 3 Kelso over a two-turn mile last year, hasn’t raced since Aug. 2 but is scheduled to rejoin Stidham’s string at Keeneland this spring.

◗ Wicked as Haggart is Thursday’s most likely winner at Fair Grounds in the program’s only allowance race, a first-level route allowance restricted to Louisiana-breds. Wicked as Haggart made his last two starts on turf and probably prefers dirt, and in race 7 gets a jockey switch to leading rider Jose Ortiz.

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