No Parole ready for first test

Maybe it won’t tell us everything, but a first-level Louisiana-bred allowance sprint on Saturday at Fair Grounds should tell us more about a colt named No Parole.

We already know he’s fast. No Parole went to the front and took no prisoners debuting in a Louisiana-bred sprint allowance race on Dec. 15. He won by 14 1/4 lengths and ran six furlongs over a track that wasn’t playing fast in 1:10.24 for a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

That’s a big number for a late-season 2-year-old, Louisiana-bred or otherwise, and No Parole’s connections, owner Maggi Moss and trainer Tom Amoss, are eager to see how far this colt’s talent can carry him. Saturday’s ninth race, a non-winners-of-two six-furlong allowance for statebreds, should help shape No Parole’s winter campaign.

“The point of this race is that one race against statebred maidens isn’t enough to push the horse into stakes company, so getting a second start is important,” Amoss said Thursday.

No Parole, by Violence out of Plus One, is one of 11 entrants; Amoss said his coupled stablemate Soul Song will be scratched.

No Parole faces a far stronger group than he faced first time out and is one of many horses to have shown strong early speed. One way or another – either battling on the front end or rating from off the pace this time – he’s likely to be tested.

“He’s athletic, he’s fast, and we’re not going to try and change his style, but he’s very smart and if we’re in a position where he needs to be off the lead, that’s what we’ll do,” Amoss said.

The actual Saturday feature is race 10, a Louisiana-bred turf-sprint allowance with multiple conditions and a $35,000 claiming option. Whether the race stays on grass or gets moved to dirt, Monte Man clearly is the one to beat here.

◗ Amoss said a workout scheduled for Sunday at Fair Grounds will help determine a comeback race for 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress. Serengeti Empress had her first work last Sunday since a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Amoss said before the filly returned to his Fair Grounds barn last month that if Serengeti Empress progressed quickly, she could be considered for the Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 26.

“If the work coming up goes as scheduled, it should allow us to make some plans,” Amoss said Friday.