Tensas Harbor could fare well on turf or dirt in Matron Stakes

OPELOUSAS, La. – The first stakes action of the young Evangeline Downs season is set for Friday night as a full field of 12 fillies and mares is set to go in the $60,000 Matron Stakes. The one-mile test is slated for the turf, but handicappers and horsemen should prepare for a possible move to the main track if the recent weather pattern in Cajun country continues.

An especially rainy April, even for this latitude, has put a damper on grass racing this season. All of last week’s scheduled turf action was rained off and moved to the main track, and after a brief respite to begin the week, rain is again creeping into the forecast. The chance of rain stands at 60 percent for Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Regardless of the surface, this year’s deep field for the Matron should provide even the most fickle handicapper with plenty of options.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Tensas Harbor (Last 3 Beyers: 82-87-80)

◗ This stakes regular has never been better, as she comes in riding a two-race winning streak, one on grass and one on dirt, so she appears ready for either surface. She has won half of her four starts over the local lawn.

◗ Trainer Keith Desormeaux has started the meeting like he means business. The local native has won with two of his three starters and finished second with the other.

Treaty Oak (Last 3 Beyers: 69-82-83)

◗ She was sporting her own two-race win streak until that clunker she threw in off a bit of a layoff at Fair Grounds in late March. She might have needed one after seven weeks away, as she did win in her second start back off a similar layoff late last year.

◗ Leading rider C.J. Hernandez, who is winning at an incredible 42 percent clip since the meeting began, was the regular rider for Tensas Harbor here last season but now shows up on this Al Stall charge.

Hot Tempo (Last 3 Beyers: 71-72-74)

◗ Last year’s Matron winner shipped up to Churchill Downs afterward and was unplaced in the Grade 3 Mint Julep in June. She has not been the same since, including a sixth-place performance in a Fair Grounds optional claimer in March. That was her first start of the year, however, and a solid half-mile work between starts indicates that she could move forward significantly.