Rain might force Woodchopper, Pago Hop off troubled turf course
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Fair Grounds belatedly managed to run the first two grass races of its 2022-23 race meeting Monday with no issue. The second day of grass racing on Saturday could run into problems.
It was persistently dry weather that led to serious issues with the grass course this past fall, but acutely wet weather that poses concern for Saturday’s turf races.
A drought necessitated regular irrigation of the grass late this summer and fall and became so severe that the Mississippi River water level fell low enough for Gulf of Mexico saltwater to flow upstream, leaching into ground water around New Orleans. That led to contamination of a Fair Grounds well, and saline water from it pooled on inside lanes during irrigation, killing the grass.
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Fair Grounds finally ran two grass races Monday with the temporary rail placed 34 feet out, restricting field size to 8. But if the forecast for heavy rain Friday and Friday night holds, the Woodchopper and the Pago Hop are likely to be taken off turf and run on dirt.
For trainer Brad Cox, that’s no problem. Cox has multiple entries in the $100,000 Woodchopper that cover both surfaces, and a filly for the $100,000 Pago Hop with contending form for turf or dirt in A Mo Reay.
Both races are carded for one mile and restricted to 3-year-olds, with the Pago Hop open only to fillies.
Little has restricted Cox’s run of success this Fair Grounds season: He came into the Thursday card with a record of 10-9-1 from 25 runners at the meet. Monday, he won three stakes races, running one-two in the Sugar Bowl. His other two stakes runners on the card finished second and third in their respective races.
Cox sends out Ready to Purrform, Straight Answer, and Open Road in the Woodchopper. The barn’s leading hope for turf in the Woodchopper is Ready to Purrform, who will be favored under Florent Geroux if the race stays on grass. Ready to Purrform is drawn widest among the eight entrants, which likely is beneficial. When the Fair Grounds turf rail has been placed far out in the course the last two seasons, horses racing from off the pace and rallying on the outside have held a decided edge, as was the case Monday.
Ready to Purrform, a Kitten’s Joy colt campaigned by Donegal Racing, doesn’t need any help. Tactically versatile, he was a closing third behind subsequent Grade 1 Keeneland Mile winner Annapolis in the Manila Stakes this past summer at Belmont Park before going wire to wire at Saratoga in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame. Wit, second in the Hall of Fame, came back to win a stakes and on Dec. 3 finished a strong third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby. Ready to Purrform twice performed below form in Kentucky this past fall, but comes into the Woodchopper fresh, having last raced on Oct. 29.
Straight Answer was Group 2-placed last summer in Ireland before finishing sixth Nov. 18 in a Churchill Downs allowance in his North American debut. All eight of his races have come on turf.
On dirt, Open Road will be the favorite and one to beat. The Quality Road colt has made all five of his starts on dirt, winning a first-level allowance over nine furlongs at Churchill on Oct. 1 before finishing a close third behind second-level allowance rivals on Nov. 4 at Keeneland.
Un Ojo, a 75-1 winner of the Rebel Stakes in February, makes his first start since April and still has much to prove. Britain’s Kitten would be Open Road’s main rival on dirt.
A Mo Reay was scratched from the Blushing K. D. Stakes on Monday, a turf race open to older fillies and mares, and looks good regardless of surface in the Pago Hop.
Purchased at auction in November for $400,000, A Mo Reay makes her first start for Cox after running into a host of talented Chad Brown-trained fillies in New York turf stakes this fall while trained by Todd Pletcher. A Mo Reayhas a 2-1-2 record from seven dirt outings, and at least two of those performances clearly are fast enough to win the Pago Hop. A Mo Reay has turned in sharp work over the Fair Grounds main track and is the likely favorite on either surface.
Should the race stay on turf, Trail Ridge Road has a chance at a minor upset. The lightly raced Illinois-bred has run creditably in her four grass starts and failed to show her best trying dirt in her most recent race.
Louisiana Futurity
Norah G lost the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Lassie by a neck and will be heavily favored to beat a lesser group Saturday in the fillies division of the Louisiana Futurity.
Bred and owned by Thomas Galvin and trained by Trish West, Norah G has talent that rates far above par by Louisiana-bred standards. The filly broke slowly making her career debut Nov. 18 at Fair Grounds, but quickly got into that sprint race from an outside post and overwhelmed her 11 opponents with a sustained, eye-catching run. The race’s second-place finisher, Hopeitsmyluckyday, returned to easily win a Louisiana-bred maiden and starts in the Louisiana Futurity.
Norah G had an inside draw in the Lassie and her slow start in that case cost her victory. Stuck inside while racing from the back of an eight-horse pack, Norah G had to wait behind a tiring rival while approaching the quarter pole, and could not run down Free Drop Maddy, a far stronger horse than she’d beaten in her debut. Even a bounce off that strong performance likely won’t get her beat Saturday.
The colts and geldings division of the Louisiana Futurity boils down to three horses: last-start maiden winners Z Resurrection and Jack Hammer, and twice stakes-placed Calicoco. Calicoco has the stakes experience, but Jack Hammer and Z Resurrection possess more speed and, possibly, talent.
Racing over a sloppy track Nov. 19, Jack Hammer beat Z Resurrection by more than four lengths, though Z Resurrection’s six-length maiden win Dec. 6 over a fast track suggests there’s less between the two than that margin. Jack Hammer posted a fast half-mile work Dec. 11 for the red-hot Bret Calhoun barn.
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