Stidham has lots to be thankful for after big holiday weekend

From Fair Grounds to Del Mar, it was quite a Thanksgiving weekend for trainer Mike Stidham.

In New Orleans, Stidham between Thursday and Saturday went 5-3-1 from 13 starters, winning three allowance races Friday and getting a very encouraging dirt-route maiden win Saturday from a 2-year-old colt named Tackett.

At Del Mar on Saturday, the 2-year-old filly Elsa won the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes over one mile on turf, while Synchrony finished third as quite possibly the best horse in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race.

Elsa and Synchrony both were to fly back to New Orleans on Wednesday. Stidham said Sunday they appeared to have come out of their races in such good shape that no substantial winter break is planned for either horse. The Seabiscuit was Synchrony’s eighth start in a strong 2018 campaign that began in February, but the 5-year-old horse, a Pin Oak Stables homebred, has taken his racing well.

“He’s maintained his weight, his coat, and his health through summer and up to now, and he loves training at the Fair Grounds,” Stidham said.

Synchrony and jockey Joe Bravo got bottled up at the back of the Seabiscuit field before finishing fastest for a fine third.

“There was just no way out. He absolutely flew home,” Stidham said.

Synchrony won the Fair Grounds Handicap in February and the Mervin Muniz in March at the last Fair Grounds meeting and will be aimed toward those races again.

Elsa, a Godolphin homebred trying two turns for the first time and back on the firmer ground she prefers, comfortably won the Jimmy Durante. There are no races of real interest for her at Fair Grounds, and Elsa probably will have to ship for her next stakes start.

“We’ll wait and see,” Stidham said, adding that the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs could be a goal.

Back in New Orleans, second-time starter Tackett stretched out to two turns in the seventh race Saturday following a sprint debut at Laurel Park in which he was a decent third. He made a comfortable lead under Mitchell Murrill, drew clear past the three-sixteenths pole, and went on to a 7 1/2-length win. By Limehouse, Tackett was bred in West Virginia by owner David Ross. He was timed in 1:43.66 for one mile and 70 yards and earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure.

“From the start, he was showing us huge gallop-outs in all his works,” Stidham said. “He’d be hard to pull up down the backside. We sprinted him first time knowing he wanted to run long. We’re pretty excited about him. He’s a big, tall, rangy-type horse – looks like a route horse and acts like one. We’ll hope that he keeps progressing and is good enough for the Louisiana Derby.”

A December allowance race on the way to the Lecomte Stakes in January would make sense for Tackett, and while common sense says there’s no way Stidham’s stable keeps going at this pace, the hot streak is there to be relished for now.

“It was a good week,” said Stidham. “Even the losers were running well.”

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