Profluent gets first test as a gelding in New Year's Day turf sprint

The reporting of first-time geldings becomes effective with the new year in Daily Racing Form , a new handicapping feature that applies immediately to a 4-year-old named Profluent.

Profluent will be making his first start under the care of trainer Mike Stidham as one of the favorites among a field of eight Thursday at Fair Grounds, in a $38,000 first-level allowance scheduled for about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

“We’ve been very pleased with him,” said Stidham. “We actually trained his dam [Kith N Kin] and always liked her quite a bit, but we never got to the bottom of her because of some soundness issues. We think he’s going to prefer turf, based mostly on his pedigree, and that’s why we’ve got him in this spot.”

The “gelded date” now being displayed on past-performance lines reflects when the castration procedure was reported to racing officials and not necessarily the precise date it occurred. In the case of Profluent, whose first workout for Stidham came Nov. 21, that official date is Nov. 23, but “he was gelded before he came to us,” Stidham said. “He’d been turned out after his last start [in early June].”

Aside from Profluent, other contenders in the third of nine New Year’s Day races include Batten the Hatches, Bluegrass Springs, and Copperplate – the respective second- through fourth-place finishers Dec. 11 for these same conditions.

First post Thursday at the New Orleans track is 1:25 p.m. Central, with the feature set for 2:23. One other allowance, also worth $38,000, is carded as race 5.

KEY CONTENDERS

Copperplate (Last 3 Beyers: 73-36-71)

◗ This Curlin colt might have needed his last start, pressing the pace before fading to fourth. After winning a maiden race at Ellis Park in August, he met tough opposition at Kentucky Downs and Keeneland.

◗ He is trained by Steve Margolis, who is doing well again following an autumn slump in Kentucky. Into Wednesday, Margolis had 126 wins at Fair Grounds, or 23 percent of his career total (542).

Batten the Hatches (Last 3 Beyers: 80-67-72)

◗ Second in the Dec. 11 race despite some traffic, this newly turned 5-year-old has been something of a tough-luck horse, with just two wins to go with his combined 15 seconds and thirds. He’s usually right there or thereabouts.

Profluent (Last 3 Beyers: 68-77-78)

◗ Unraced for more than six months, this chestnut Kentucky-bred was a maiden winner as an odds-on favorite at Pimlico in April before facing a pretty salty group in his turf debut in June at Belmont Park.

◗ Stidham has worked him six times since assuming his training.

Bluegrass Springs (Last 3 Beyers: 77-52-32)

◗ Third in the Dec. 11 race, he’s strictly a come-from-behind sort who surely would benefit from a too-fast pace unfolding among Brother Jimmy Ray, Rockin Boogie, and Profluent.