Overflow from Silverbulletday winds up in Fair Grounds allowance

Overflow from Saturday’s Silverbulletday Stakes forms the Martin Luther King Jr. Day feature at Fair Grounds, a first-level, dirt-route allowance race (with a $50,000 claiming option) restricted to 3-year-old fillies.

Princess Theorem, Minute Waltz, and Divine Comedy all were entered in the $150,000 Silverbulletday, their connections opting for this lesser spot instead.

Princess Theorem adds blinkers and Lasix after finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Golden Rod last fall at Churchill Downs. Her easy maiden route win two starts ago stamps her as a key contender Monday. So, too, ought to be Minute Waltz, who races around two turns for the first time after a debut sprint victory and an encouraging Churchill one-turn-mile performance in which she was third in a race won by subsequent stakes winner Oliviaofthedesert.

Minute Waltz could wind up battling for the lead with another stretchout horse, Zoom Up, who raced close to a sprint pace winning a maiden race Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds.

Social Dilemma and Divine Comedy went virtually wire to wire in their respective Fair Grounds maiden route wins and wind up in a race with more pace this time. Divine Comedy, trained by Brad Cox for Godolphin, was hand-ridden to a 5 1/4-length second-start victory Dec. 18 but earned a modest 71 Beyer Speed Figure for that performance.

◗ Santos Rivera, a five-pound apprentice jockey, has moved his tack from Northern California to New Orleans and began riding at Fair Grounds earlier this month. Rivera, a 21-year-old native of Mexico, won 55 races during 2020. Tim Hanisch, who books mounts for Mitchell Murrill, has Rivera’s book. Hanisch was Fair Grounds agent for Francisco Arrieta, who left to ride the Oaklawn meet.