The question to ask regarding the two divisions of the Louisiana Futurity on Saturday at Fair Grounds should be “by how many” rather than “who.”
The formulation applies especially in the fillies’ race, where Little Miss Curlin, based on her established form, could stop for a beignet at the eighth pole and still get home in time. Listed at 3-5 on the track’s morning line, Little Miss Curlin looks more like a 1-5 shot, if not lower.
Lots of earliest-season 3-year-old action this first Saturday of 2026. Tough sledding, these races, between formidable favorites and murk.
Smarty Jones
The late New Orleans turf writer and handicapper Bob Fortus coined the word a couple decades ago: jockeyology.
You know, the practice of assessing who rides horse X for trainer Y and what it all means. The term got deployed with a measure of disdain. There could be a million hidden reasons motivating jockey assignments. Focus on the horse.
Obliteration will move back to dirt on Saturday when he makes his first start since the Breeders’ Cup in the $150,000 Renaissance at Oaklawn Park.
The six-furlong race for 3-year-olds shares a card with the $250,000 Smarty Jones, which is a points race for the Kentucky Derby, and the $135,000 Commodore, an overnight stakes for the sprint set. First post for the 11-race card, which drew 134 entries, is noon Central.
With dual classic winner Sovereignty, a lock to earn a divisional Eclipse Award and a strong candidate to be named Horse of the Year, leading the way, his sire, Into Mischief, continued his streak as the nation’s top stallion and his owner-breeder, Godolphin, looks to continue its own streak of awards, as well.
Dazzling Dame, a two-time stakes winner in the Mid-Atlantic region, takes her talents to Aqueduct for Saturday’s $150,000 Busanda Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
The Busanda, run at 1 1/8 miles since 2018 – and around two turns on the now-defunct inner track before that – is now run as a one-turn mile. It was moved up on the calendar by about two weeks but offers 42 qualifying points (20-10-6-4-2) to the May 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
Universe will be looking to add to his Kentucky Derby credentials, while Rancho Santa Fe, Oscar’s Hope, Strategic Risk, and Sleepingonfreedom will be looking to start establishing theirs when the leading contenders meet in the $250,000 Smarty Jones on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
The 1 1/16-mile race is the first of four Kentucky Derby points races this season at the Hot Springs, Ark., track. It is being showcased on an 11-race card that includes the $150,000 Renaissance for 3-year-old sprinters and the $135,000 Commodore. Post time is noon Central.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Balboa ran into a couple of potential heavyweights when he finished third behind Paladin and Renegade in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes here last month. A drop in class is in the offing Saturday at Aqueduct when Balboa gets back in the ring in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes.
Balboa will meet only three rivals in the one-mile Jerome as Mailata, who was entered in this race, won Tuesday’s three-horse Future Stars Stakes by 19 lengths at Parx Racing.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer George Weaver said he considered entering his impressive debut maiden winner Epic Summer in Friday’s entry-level allowance race going seven furlongs, as several of his colleagues opted to do, rather than wait another 24 hours for Saturday’s $175,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes on the Gulfstream Park dirt.
Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat became the first two jockeys to surpass the $40 million mark in purse earnings for a single year in 2025, but it was Ortiz finishing as the year-end leader by the slimmest of margins.
Ortiz, who had 1,631 mounts, earned $40,497,847 in purses, while Prat, who rode 1,256 horses, finished with $40,496,178. Prat made a late run at Ortiz, winning three races Wednesday at Aqueduct but did not accrue sufficient earnings in his last two rides to pass him.
