Megadeed has edge for Asmussen

Saturday night's $50,000 Tellike Stakes, the first stakes to be conducted on the turf at Evangeline Downs, drew an outstanding field of 12 fillies and mares slated to go five furlongs. The headliner will go as the eighth event on an 11-race program.

Rating a slight edge in the Tellike is the Steve Asmussen-trained Megadeed. A daughter of Precise End, she is stakes-placed on the grass and defeated fellow New York-breds on the turf last summer at Belmont Park. She will be making her first start for Asmussen after turning in a couple of fourth-place finishes over the inner track at Aqueduct this past winter. Leading rider Gerard Melancon will be in the saddle.

The speedy Alphadoodle looks like the controlling speed in the Tellike. The Frank Leggio trainee led past every pole in winning the Happy Ticket Stakes at Fair Grounds in her most recent start en route to a career-best 84 Beyer Speed Figure. A 4-year-old Cape Canaveral filly, she will be making her first start on the grass. John Jacinto will handle the riding chores.

Blue Angel is scheduled to return to her favorite surface, turf, on Saturday night. A 5-year-old Golden Missile mare, she had been racing exclusively over turf the last couple of seasons before being rained off the Fair Grounds turf on March 27. Before that effort, she was a solid third for a $50,000 claiming price at the Fair Grounds in mid-January. Lonnie Meche has been given the call to ride by trainer Bret Calhoun.