Menard Memorial attracts large, deep field

The Fair Grounds stakes schedule goes heavy on filly-and-mare turf sprints, with four of them scheduled during a four-month meeting. There’s no shortage of races in the division, and from the entries in Saturday’s $75,000 Nelson J. Menard Memorial Stakes, no shortage of horses for the races.

The Menard drew 11 entrants, the maximum this race can accommodate with the temporary rail set at nine feet out, plus two also-eligibles. Among the entries are the winners of the first two divisional races this season, Hotshot Anna, who won the Richard Scherer on Nov. 30, and Play On, who won the Pan Zareta on Dec. 28. Both horses rate a legitimate chance, as do Change of Control, who was second to Play On last out, and three newcomers to the local division – Classy Act, Eyeinthesky, and Ambassador Luna.

Hotshot Anna is the most accomplished horse in the Menard, which is carded early as race 5, and while Hotshot Anna does her best work on synthetic surfaces, she is more than merely competent on turf. She scored a game win about two months ago in the Scherer but was hit in the eye by a turf clod during the race and needed a little extra time while that injury healed. Owner-trainer Hugh Robertson said Hotshot Anna could have come back in the Pan Zareta last month, but Robertson, looking ahead to a summer synthetic campaign, chose to take a more patient approach.

Eyeinthesky recently joined the Fair Grounds branch of trainer Mark Casse’s operation and should be set for improvement in the second start of her form cycle following a December comeback start. Eyeinthesky has Saratoga turf-sprint stakes form from last summer that would make her a key player Saturday, albeit in races restricted to 3-year-olds.

Ambassador Luna has been based in Florida with trainer Jim Gulick and capped a successful 3-year-old campaign with a peak performance in a second-level allowance race turf sprinting at Churchill Downs. That race was contested on a wet, laboring course, and something less than firm turf might benefit Ambassador Luna.

Play On beat Change of Control by 1 1/4 lengths in the Pan Zareta, but the margin between the two likely is smaller than that and Change of Control is the selection to win the Menard at, presumably, a square price. Play On tracked two leaders and got the jump on Change of Control racing on a Fair Grounds grass course over which it was difficult to make up ground in the homestretch. There appears to be more speed signed on to the Menard than there was in the Pan Zareta, and a stronger early and middle pace would enhance Change of Control’s chances.