Sharp has the numbers in Saturday stakes

No matter what Mother Nature throws at Fair Grounds in New Orleans this week, where rain is forecast leading up to Saturday’s four-stakes card, trainer Joe Sharp’s stable seems well positioned for a rewarding afternoon of racing. Sharp has seven horses entered in three of the track’s four stakes, including trios in the Woodchopper and Pago Hop, a pair of $75,000 races for 3-year-olds.

The Woodchopper and its filly counterpart, the Pago Hop, are scheduled for a mile on the Fair Grounds grass course. However, with a flash-flood watch issued by the National Weather Service for the area through Friday and the potential for lingering scattered showers into Saturday, there is a distinct chance the races could be transferred to the main track.

Among Sharp’s leading entries in the Woodchopper, which goes as the seventh on a 10-race card, is Zero Gravity, who is stakes-placed on yielding turf and a winner on dirt, and Call West, a comebacker with established main-track form.

His other entrant in the Woodchopper, Stolen Pistol, does not suit the wet forecast, having run most effectively on firm turf, while struggling on damp grass courses and on dirt. He would likely be scratched if presented with something other than a firm turf course, Sharp said Wednesday.

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Zero Gravity, a gelded son of Orb, would appear Sharp’s best chance in the Woodchopper. Slow to come around, he did not win until the ninth start of his career, at Canterbury in June. But he has made rapid progress since, winning an allowance via disqualification at Canterbury over the summer and twice hitting the board in challenging races in Kentucky during the fall. One of those was a close third in off-the-turf race at Keeneland on Oct. 14, followed by a second in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 10.

Sharp, who named Ty Kennedy to ride, called Zero Gravity “equally good on either surface.”

Beyond Sharp’s trio in the Woodchopper, other leading contenders include Dubby Dubbie, a three-time winner on grass who handles give in the ground, and Reride, who won the Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland earlier in the year.

Sharp’s three entrants in the Pago Hop are led by She’s All Skeet, who won an allowance at Kentucky Downs in September before a third-place finish here on Dec. 1 in the 5 1/2-furlong Richard Scherer Memorial vs. older females. Although She’s All Skeet ran 10th in the Grade 3 Jessamine at Keeneland as a 2-year-old in October 2017 in her one attempt at a route, Sharp is hopeful that race was not a valid indicator of her ability to go two turns, noting the tough company she faced.

“She handled the 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs, has shown the ability to close, and she’s a winner on the Fair Grounds turf course,” he said. “I think the flat mile will suit her.”

Adam Beschizza returns in the irons aboard She’s All Skeet, a daughter of Trappe Shot.

Starving Artist and Pretty Lady, Sharp’s other Pago Hop entrants, are 15-1 and 12-1 on the morning line.

Favored at 7-2 in the Pago Hop is Cool Beans, a speedy, twice graded-placed filly who has run well on turf and on dirt. This fall she ran third in both the Valley View and Mrs. Revere on grass in Kentucky.

Second choice at 9-2 is Remember Daisy, a winner of three straight in the Louisiana-bred ranks, including a romp in a sloppy renewal of the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies on Dec. 8.

She is not the only Louisiana Champions Day stakes winner entered Saturday at Fair Grounds. So, too, are Midnight Fantasy and Classy John – 2-year-olds that rolled in the Lassie and Juvenile, respectively. They are the 3-5 favorites in respective divisions of the Louisiana Futurity early on the Saturday card.

Midnight Fantasy, trained by Sharp and perfect in two starts, seemingly has six rivals at her mercy in the female division, going as the fourth, while Classy John faces only four foes in the male division, the day’s opener. Both races, with purses in excess of $85,000 apiece, are at six furlongs.