Two Emmys targets Muniz Memorial off rare clunker

From December 2020 through January 2022, the reformed maiden claimer Two Emmys had gone 2-5-1 from nine starts. He’d finished second to multiple Grade 1 winner Colonel Liam in the 2021 Muniz Memorial, the most important grass race at Fair Grounds, and won the Grade 1 Mr. D stakes over Domestic Spending last summer at Arlington.

So, it was wholly uncharacteristic when Two Emmys checked in 10th, beaten seven lengths, on Feb. 19 in the Fair Grounds Stakes.

“We did bloodwork on him, checked him out, everything looked fine,” said trainer and part-owner Hugh Robertson. “I couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

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Two Emmys has since worked twice over the Fair Grounds dirt track, and Robertson can find no reason not to enter him Saturday in the March 26 Muniz Memorial. And if Two Emmys can find his top form, he can contend.

There appear to be no major shippers headed for the Muniz, according to Fair Grounds racing officials. Colonel Liam is in Dubai, and Adhamo, runner-up in the Fair Grounds, is being pointed to the Old Forester Turf Classic in May at Churchill Downs. Cavalry, who set a slow pace and upset the Fair Grounds, is expected to run back, as is Santin, a subtly encouraging fourth in the Fair Grounds, his first start since a near miss in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby.

◗ Bill Mott plans to enter Galt in the Louisiana Derby. Galt fell March 5 in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream. Other expected runners are Call Me Midnight, Epicenter, Kupuna, Pioneer of Medina, Rattle N Roll, Silent Power, and Zozos, with a few others under consideration.