Snapper Sinclair, Retirement Fund post final Louisiana Derby works
Snapper Sinclair and Retirement Fund put the finishing touches on their major Louisiana Derby preparation Monday, each working a comfortable solo half-mile at Fair Grounds for trainer Steve Asmussen. Retirement Fund went his half in 50.80, Snapper Sinclair in 49.60.
“All is well with them,” said Asmussen. “I expect them to run good.”
Snapper Sinclair will be among the shorter prices Saturday on the strength of a third-place finish in the Lecomte Stakes and a brutally close second last month in the Risen Star. Retirement Fund, though, will be a price, coming off a distant seventh-place finish making his stakes debut in the Southwest. Retirement Fund debuted this winter at Fair Grounds and was an easy winner of two dirt route races, a maiden and a first-level allowance, before catching a wet track and pulling an outside trip in the Southwest.
“First time at Oaklawn, the Southwest being an off track that was inside-biased that day – it’s very hard race to gauge how good you are or what it meant,” Asmussen said.
Another Asmussen-trained 3-year-old, Reride, left Fair Grounds on Sunday, and on Monday was on a plane bound for Dubai, where he starts March 31 in the $2 million UAE Derby.
◗ Louisiana Derby entrant Hyndford isn’t a certain runner in the race. One of two Todd Pletcher-trained horses entered – along with major contender Noble Indy – Hyndford had been pointed for the March 25 Sunland Derby. But Pletcher told Fair Grounds publicity this weekend that racing officials there informed him Hyndford, as of March 17, would be stuck on the also-eligible list for their race. On Tuesday, if Hyndford still was on the outside looking in at Sunland, he’s expected to ship from Florida.
◗ Featured on Thursday’s solid 10-race program is race 8, a second-level dirt-route allowance with a $40,000 claiming option restricted to fillies and mares. Promise of Spring is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and an obvious contender, but the pick to post a mild upset is It’s a Journey.
