NEW ORLEANS – Two second-level optional $40,000 claiming races for 4-year-olds and up, one at about a mile on turf and the other at six furlongs on dirt, highlight a 10-race card Sunday at Fair Grounds. The more compelling co-feature appears to be the eighth race, assuming it remains on grass. The 4-year-old Granny’s Kitten, whom trainer Mike Maker scratched from last month’s Woodchopper when that race for 3-year-olds was switched from turf to dirt, and the 8-year-old Grand Contender, who finished third at this level and distance Dec. 17 for trainer Tom Amoss, surely will attract strong betting support. But contenders who appear at least as serious but are likely to offer more attractive odds are the 9-year-old gelding Trend, trained by Mike Stidham, and the 4-year-old gelding Lu Rae’s Lucky Sky, trained by Morris Nicks. The race drew a field of nine, plus three also-eligible runners, including the main-track-only entrant Candy Gram. Granny’s Kitten, a graded stakes-placed colt whose last six starts came in stakes, five of them graded, will be facing older horses for the first time. He’s coming off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Stakes on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. This race might turn out to be a prep for Granny’s Kitten for a stakes start later in the meet. “That’s kind of the plan for now,” Maker said from his Florida base. “If it doesn’t cooperate down there, we wouldn’t hesitate to move him around.” Grand Contender, as he did in his last start, will be running for the $40,000 claiming price. After setting a moderate pace in his last start, he lacked punch in the stretch. Trend, who’ll be running for the claiming price, is stepping up in class after rallying past starter/optional-claiming rivals Dec. 3. He’s the epitome of an old class horse. He won a stakes race at Santa Rosa in 2014 and twice placed in graded company in 2012 at Gulfstream Park. “With a horse that just turned 9, already through his conditions, he’s probably not at the stakes level any longer,” Stidham said. “It’s hard to find the right spots. He’s doing well, so we’re hoping he’s ready to step up to this level.” Lu Rae’s Lucky Sky, who finished in the money in six of his seven starts, was second at this level Nov. 26 at Fair Grounds in his first start since July. “I thought he made a step forward in that race,” Nicks said. If the race is moved to dirt, Grand Contender and Candy Gram likely would be the prime contenders. The six-furlong co-feature (race 7) drew a field of eight, including Vigorous Titan, Country Corrections, and Almost English – the one-two-three finishers in a race at the same level and distance Dec. 18. Bourbon County, a Richie Scherer trainee who as a 2-year-old finished a close second to the talented Cinco Charlie in the Sugar Bowl in December 2014 at Fair Grounds, will be racing for the first time since July.