Palazzi might be a cut above Black Gold rivals

If you enjoyed the $200,000 Texas Turf Mile last month at Sam Houston Race Park, that’s great, because they’re running it again Saturday at Fair Grounds for $75,000.

Palazzi won a tight photo finish over Excess Magic in the Texas Turf Mile, with Dyn O Mite just a neck behind the top two, and all three horses return for the Black Gold Stakes. The Black Gold, restricted to 3-year-olds, will be contested at about 1 1/16 miles on what ought to be a firm Fair Grounds course, with the temporary rail scheduled to be set at eight feet.

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The top three from the Sam Houston race come back for the substantially lesser purse for lack of any other turf-stakes options for 3-year-olds in the region. Brad Cox trains none among that trio but found four Black Gold entrants of his own – Royal Prince, T D Dance, Fulsome, and Kinetic Sky. Kinetic Sky is likely to be scratched if the Black Gold stays on turf, according to Cox’s Fair Grounds-based assistant trainer, Ricky Giannini.

Palazzi, from the Mark Casse barn, is 2 for 2 since being switched to turf and is the selection to remain unbeaten on grass. The added half-furlong he gets to work with Saturday ought to benefit Palazzi, given his pedigree and performance in both his grass starts. At Fair Grounds on Dec. 1, he made a phenomenal middle move from the rear of a turf-mile maiden field, powering to the front in upper stretch and sustaining his momentum to win by one length. Palazzi, by Pioneerof the Nile, almost certainly would’ve won the Texas Turf Mile by a wider margin had he not taken a hard bump from Excess Magic in upper stretch. The body blow cost Palazzi momentum, but he regained his rhythm in time to narrowly prevail.

Excess Magic has ample grass ability in his own right, as evidenced not only at Houston but in a sharp Fair Grounds allowance-race win Jan. 3 and in his Remington Park maiden score, where he overcame two instances of meaningful trouble to win in a romp.

Dyn O Mite was the surprise player in the Texas Turf Mile, though, in retrospect, he could’ve been taken more seriously. Owner Brad Allshouse and trainer Keith Desormeaux scratched Dyn O Mite from the Lecomte Stakes in favor of the Texas Turf Mile. At 2, Dyn O Mite’s two grass starts yielded a Golden Gate maiden win and a runner-up finish at Del Mar behind Rombauer, victorious Feb. 13 in the El Camino Real Derby.

Fulsome is the shortest price (5-1) on the morning line among the Cox entrants intended for grass, but Palazzi whizzed right past Fulsome on his way to victory in the Fair Grounds maiden turf race in December. Fulsome returned with a hard-fought maiden win going 1 1/8 miles in January, beating Hot Stove League, who wired an off-turf Fair Grounds maiden two Saturdays ago. T D Dance, however, could be the most dangerous of the Cox horses. He overcame post 11 to comfortably win his career debut, an Indiana Grand turf route, and was beaten a neck by Dyn O Mite in his only other start, an off-turf Fair Grounds allowance on Dec. 4.

Rail-drawn Lookin for Loki looks like the early leader, and if Dyn O Mite doesn’t apply much pressure, he could stick around. The Godolphin homebred Ghostliner, who makes his first turf start while racing on Lasix, rounds out the field.

Dixie Poker Ace Stakes

Ninety One Assault has won exactly one race from 25 starts racing away from the Fair Grounds grass course. Over the Fair Grounds turf, and facing Louisiana-breds, he has been all but unbeatable, bringing a Fair Grounds turf-course record of 10-7-1-2 into the $60,000 Dixie Poker Ace, the supporting feature Saturday.

Trained by Tom Morley, who co-owns the 8-year-old gelding with Paul Braverman, Ninety One Assault won the 2020 Dixie Poker Ace by two lengths, and in his only start this Fair Grounds meet captured the Louisiana Champions Day Turf on Dec. 12. With his regular Fair Grounds partner Shaun Bridgmohan aboard, he’ll be a shorter price Saturday than his 5-2 morning-line odds.

Maga Man upset Dixie Poker Ace entrant Jus Lively (who prefers dirt) in a Feb. 9 allowance race on a muddy Fair Grounds main track and could give Ninety One Assault a fight. Maga Man has lost both his starts on turf, but both his dam and lone sibling to race moved up on grass.