A dozen 3-year-olds, headed, nominally, by Track Phantom, one of seven horses trained by Steve Asmussen, Todd Pletcher, and Kenny McPeek, were entered Saturday in the $1 million Louisiana Derby, the featured race at Fair Grounds on March 23, the most important card in a long meeting that ends the next day.  Track Phantom drew post 12 and will be ridden for the fourth time by Joel Rosario, who was aboard Track Phantom in his Jan. 20 Lecomte Stakes win and in a second-place finish behind Sierra Leone in the Feb. 17 Risen Star. The wide draw is not especially deleterious since the Louisiana Derby is contested over 1 3/16 miles and begins with a substantial run down the homestretch before the first turn. Track Phantom also possesses positional pace, though his Beyer Speed Figures have flatlined in his last couple starts, and Sierra Leone ran him down after Track Phantom set an easy pace.   Track Phantom was 3-1 in the Risen Star, not much shorter than the Asmussen-trained Hall of Fame, who never got untracked at odds of 7-2 while facing other winners for the first time and racing in a claustrophobic spot between and behind horses while encountering his first sloppy racing surface. Hall of Fame gets another Derby prep chance in the Louisiana Derby, where he’ll break from post 2 under Ricardo Santana, who picked up the mount on Hall of Fame in the Risen Star. Hall of Fame does have speed that he’s likely to deploy in Saturday’s contest.   :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Pletcher’s three runners are Triple Espresso (post 1, Luis Saez), Antiquarian (post 3, John Velazquez), and Agate Road (post 4, Irad Ortiz), none of whom are obvious contenders. Triple Espresso has raced only on turf in his five starts and has not done so with great verve, while Agate Road also has mainly been a turf horse, finishing second with a modest 78 Beyer making his dirt debut Feb. 10 in the Sam Davis Stakes. Agate Road was cross-entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $700,000 Jeff Ruby Stakes on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. Third-time starter Antiquarian looks more promising, but comes off a mere maiden win, although he has faced talented colts in both his races, losing to Conquest Warrior at Gulfstream and beating Cornishman in a Feb. 17 Fair Grounds maiden route.  McPeek entered the pair of Real Men Violin and Common Defense. Real Men Violin drew post 9 and will be ridden by Corey Lanerie, with Brian Hernandez, who rode Real Men Violin to an eighth-place finish in the Risen Star, named on Common Defense, who breaks from post 10. Common Defense has made his four starts at Oaklawn, where he took a major forward step finishing second Feb. 24 in the Rebel Stakes, but has been based at Fair Grounds since February.  Risen Star third-place finisher Catching Freedom (post 5, Flavien Prat) is trainer Brad Cox’s lone entrant, while Honor Marie makes his second start following a winter break that ended with a decent fifth-place Risen Star finish. Ben Curtis rides Honor Marie for the first time, replacing Rafael Bejarano.   While trainer Chad Brown will send Risen Star winner Sierra Leone to the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Brown has the promising Tuscan Gold for the Louisiana Derby. A troubled debut fourth in a maiden race won by Sierra Leone, Tuscan Gold cleared the maiden ranks by more than six lengths in his second start, a 1 1/16-mile race Jan. 31 at Gulfstream. Tuscan Gold, whose strong suit is stamina, breaks from post 11 under Tyler Gaffalione.  The Louisiana Derby is the last of 12 races on a card that starts at noon and is a major points race on Churchill Downs’ Road to the Kentucky Derby, the first five finishers earning 100, 50, 25, 15, and 10 qualifying points, respectively. With 55 points, Track Phantom will make the Derby field. Common Defense has 27 points, Catching Freedom 25, and Honor Marie 15. Saturday’s weather forecast looks favorable and the track should be fast.  The $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks, a comparably important qualifying race toward the Kentucky  Oaks, drew eight 3-year-old fillies, though Accommodate Eva is cross entered in the Crescent City Oaks and Alpine Princess in the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park. Tarifa and Intricate, first and second in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes last month at Fair Grounds, head a field that includes Our Pretty Woman, who has started her career with route wins against maidens and first-level allowance rivals.  The $300,000 Muniz Memorial over 1 1/8 miles on turf came together very nicely, and despite drawing the outside post in a 13-runner field, I’m Very Busy should be favored. Ortiz riding for Brown, I’m Very Busy exits a strong second-place finish behind the top-class filly Warm Heart in the Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 27. Brown also entered Adhamo, who made his North American debut finishing a good second in the Fair Grounds Stakes in February 2022. Webslinger, sixth with trouble in the Pegasus Turf, figures second choice under Flavien Prat.  A relatively modest group of 10 went into the $500,000 New Orleans Classic, among them the Louisiana-bred standout Touchuponastar, one of several pace players. Money Supply scored a 9-1 upset over favored Best Actor last month in the Mineshaft Stakes and both horses are back for the New Orleans Classic.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.