Tag: GII Louisiana Derby

Fair Grounds Cancels Sunday Card Due To Expected Rain

Due to heavy rainfall forecasted for the New Orleans area Sunday, Fair Grounds has canceled their Sunday race card. The cancellation, which was announced during the live draw for Saturday's GII Louisiana Derby, will impact racing during the track's closing weekend next Saturday and Sunday with both days carding extra races to make up for the loss. Racing will resume at Fair Grounds Wednesday, March 20.

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Old Friends Welcomes GSW Noble Indy From Puerto Rico After Team Effort

After a team effort, Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky, welcomed GSW Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy) on Thursday, Dec. 7, the retirement farm said in a release Friday.

The 8-year old bay gelding, who ran in the 2018 GI Kentucky Derby, was repatriated from Puerto Rico thanks to the efforts of Fred Hart, who became a big fan of the horse due to his ownership of his dam, Noble Maz; Kelley Stobie, owner of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, which has assisted many Thoroughbreds in Puerto Rico; and Mike Repole, Noble Indy's original owner who paid to transport the horse to the United States and then to Old Friends.

Originally trained by Todd Pletcher and bred by WinStar Farm, Noble Indy's first graded stakes win came in the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby, which punched his ticket to the Derby where he finished 17th.

The once promising Thoroughbred was never able to recapture his pre-Derby form and began to drop down the racing ranks until he was shipped to Puerto Rico last year where he ran five times at Camarero.

After following his journey, Hart got involved and sought to retire the horse. In an article by TDN's Bill Finley, Hart said, “I became sentimentally attached to this horse and was afraid harm would come to him if he stayed in Puerto Rico. I just wanted to get him out of there.”

Hart contacted Stobie, and the two worked together to try and retire the horse. The issue they ran into was that the owner, Skull Stable PR, named a price they could not pay. However, they persisted, but the ask still remained too high. Then, following an injury, Skull Stable PR finally lowered the number and Noble Indy was sent to Stobie's farm.

“It was a tense time since Indy came to Puerto Rico, knowing if we would be able to get him off the island in one piece,” said Stobie. “Thankfully his surgery back in February of this year did not go as planned, so he could no longer race and the owner agreed to retire him to CTA. We are grateful to Repole Stables for their generous donation, which did not only help Noble Indy, but will pay for two other horses in need to get home. Also thank you to Winstar Farms for stepping up and sending a donation.”

“We are all very excited that Noble Indy will spend the rest of his life at Old Friends in Kentucky,” said Repole. “This was an amazing team effort by so many to bring Noble Indy back from Puerto Rico and to give him the great retirement that he deserves.”

“Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to allow us to enjoy Noble Indy's retirement,” said Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends. “His story will make him a magnet for racing fans. Come visit.”

 

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Pletcher Derby Crew Works Before Heading To Louisville

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) returned to training Friday morning for his last local work before shipping to Louisville to begin final preparations for the GI Kentucky Derby.

Working in company with Bright Future, a 4-year-old son of Curlin, the Derby favorite went a half-mile in :50.28 at Palm Beach Downs for trainer Todd Pletcher, according to Mike Welsch of DRF.

“With Forte we were just looking for a nice, easy first work back. He ran in the Florida Derby 13 days ago and he's getting ready to ship on Sunday to Churchill, so we just wanted to let him stretch his legs a little bit and not do too much,” Pletcher said. “It looked like he was just kind of in an open gallop out there, doing really well.”

 

 

 

Also breezing together for Pletcher Friday and bound for Louisville were Spendthrift Farm-owned pair Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) and Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro) who were timed in :49.49 seconds for four furlongs, according to DRF. Kingsbarns is assured a place in the Derby starting gate with 100 qualifying points after his victory in the GII Louisiana Derby, good for eighth overall. Second in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, Major Dude–who is ranked 23rd–is on the bubble with 40 points.

“We were looking for a little more from Major Dude and Kingsbarns. I thought they both went really well [with] good enthusiasm and energy in their gallop-outs and seemed to be moving well so, overall, very pleased,” Pletcher said. “I thought they all went according to plan.”

Friday's works were a relief for Hall of Fame trainer after heavy rains swept through South Florida this week and threatened to disrupt their schedules.

“They've been doing well, they've been eating well, they've been galloping nicely. I was happy to get the works in on the day we scheduled,” he said. “We've had a lot of rain so I wasn't positive that was going to happen, but the track dried out nicely and we had good conditions for it.”

Pletcher also reported that Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit) exited his Apr. 8 victory in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland in good order and will join his stablemates in Louisville over the weekend. The gray colt is ranked fourth in the Derby leaderboard with 150 points.

“Tapit Trice came back super, really good energy. He's been galloping the last few days at Keeneland,” Pletcher said. “He'll ship over to Churchill after training on Sunday. Knock on wood, so far so good.”

 

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Louisiana Derby Caps Prep Season At Fair Grounds

While the first Saturday in May is still six weeks away, the trail to the GI Kentucky Derby reaches its boiling point in New Orleans Saturday with the conclusion of the Fair Grounds prep series–the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. One of a pair of Derby points races happening within 20 minutes of one another Saturday, the Louisiana Derby offers 100-40-30-20-10 points and all but guarantees the winner a slot in the gate at Churchill Downs May 6.

Currently 10th on the leaderboard–the highest of the runners in the field–Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro) took the win in the second local prep race of the season–the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 21–after ending his juvenile campaign with a victory under the Twinspires in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. for trainer Brad Cox.

Cox has swept the Fair Grounds prep races thus far with Jace's Road (Quality Road), winner of the Gun Runner S. Dec. 26. The Louisiana Derby will the his first start since a fifth in the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Jan. 28.

Making just his second start since being named a 'TDN Rising Star' at Saratoga last fall, Disarm (Gun Runner) makes his stakes debut Saturday off a second against allowance/optional claiming company at Oaklawn Feb. 19.

“He needed that race and he needs this,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “He's a talented horse playing catch up. From where we were at, I only felt we could get two runs in him (before a possible start in the Kentucky Derby), and the mile-and-three-sixteenths distance will move him forward. He's a horse who will stay on nicely but he needs some racing. He has a high talent level and deserves this chance.”

Undefeated in a pair of starts, Spendthrift Farm color-bearer Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) also makes his stakes debut for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Turfway Serves Up 'Well Done' Derby Prep

Bolt d'Oro has another potential leading contender on the trail in Turfway's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. with GIII Kitten's Joy S. heroine Major Dude also flying the Spendthrift Farm colors. Having contested his last four races on the turf, including another graded-stakes win last fall in Belmont's GII Pilgrim S., the colt tries the tapeta for the first time for a chance at the 100-40-30-20-10 points on offer.

An experienced dirt horse, Two Phils (Hard Spun) leaves Fair Grounds for Turfway after contesting the last two preps in New Orleans-coming in second to Instant Coffee in the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 21 and third when last spotted behind Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) in the GII Risen S. Feb. 18.

“At one point the horse did a two-minute lick for me one time over a synthetic surface and it was almost an eye-opening move,” said trainer Larry Rivelli of Two Phil's. “I've been trying to think of the easiest spot for the money and I think this will be the spot. If he absolutely hates the surface, that's on me. I'm sort of putting myself out there saying that I think he will run well over it. Working a half-mile or five-eighths is a lot different than running a race. That's when you find out if a horse doesn't like a surface. I'm pretty confident he will like it but like anything else in racing there could be a chance he doesn't like it. I didn't think he'd like the mud at Churchill (in the Street Sense) until he did.”

One contender who has experience over the surface is Congruent (Tapit), who faded to sixth behind Major Dude in the Kitten's Joy but rebounded with a win over the tapeta in the local prep, the John Battaglia Memorial S.

Art Collector Looks To Stay On Top

The newly-crowned GI Pegasus World Cup winner, Art Collector (Bernardini) looks to keep rolling into New Orleans in the GII New Orleans Classic S.

He'll face another son of the late Darley great in Gary and Mary West's West Will Power, entered off a pair of runner-up efforts in the GI Clark S. and the GII Razorback H.

The field also includes GSW Pioneer of Medina (Pioneerof the Nile) and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Rattle N Roll (Connect).

Hoosier Philly Right Back At It

Already sitting in eighth place on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Tom Amoss's Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) cares more about redemption than points in Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks.

“I still think she's the best horse I have ever had in my barn,” Amoss said after his filly was a well-beaten third last time out in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 18.

She'll be challenged by a formidable pair in the Rachel Alexandra winner, 'TDN Rising Star'  Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), and Silverbulletday S. victor The Alys Look (Connect), who defeated GISP Chop Chop (City of Light).

While all three fillies are in the top 10 in points standings, the Fair Grounds Oaks does award a further 100-40-30-20-10 points towards the GI Kentucky Oaks.

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