A robust field-of-14 is entered for Saturday's $100,000 Costa Rising for Louisiana-breds going 5 ½ furlongs on the turf at the Fair Grounds, though only one rates as a Grade 1 winner. While Maggie Moss and Greg Tramontin's No Parole will be making his turf debut, that won't keep bettors from sending it in with both hands on a blazing fast runner who reached racing's highest level last year.
No Parole (post 2 as Mike Diliberto's 8-5 morning line favorite, with Luis Saez to ride) was one of the best 3-year-old sprinters in the country in 2020 for trainer Tom Amoss. He ran with the best one-turn horses in training in a campaign highlighted by a win in Belmont Park's Woody Stephens (G1) in June. The son of Violence was off-the-board in a pair of graded stakes to end his sophomore campaign and Amoss backed off, regrouped, and found a soft return spot February 10, when No Parole won the Premier Sprint with ease at Delta Downs. Amoss got what he wanted at Delta, and is looking forward to trying No Parole over the Stall-Wilson.
“The comeback race was a good race, but it was obviously the stepping stone,” Amoss said. “So, what makes us all of a sudden try the grass with a horse who has never been on the grass? Timing is one thing, the purse is another thing, but more important than those two things, pedigree.”
No Parole is out of the Bluegrass Cat mare Plus One, who won the Alison McClay over the turf at Penn National in 2012, and is a full-brother to recent local turf winner Violent Ways, another talented state-bred who is 4-for-7 lifetime. With a strong pedigree, especially for a Louisiana-bred, Amoss knows that a turf stakes win would add a lot of No Parole's stallion potential.
“There's a lot to see in that female side of the family in terms of being able to sprint on the grass,” Amoss said. “With that kind of evidence out there, this was a very logical race for us before we leave Fair Grounds. If it doesn't work, it's horse racing, a lot of what you try doesn't work.”
Trainer Ron Faucheux will start an uncoupled quartet, with Ivery Sisters Racing's Monte Man (post 6 at 5-1 with Adam Beschizza) leading the way. The 8-year-old son of Custom for Carlos is an eight-time stakes winner who has won the Costa Rising the past two years and is 3-for-4 over the Stall-Wilson. Monte Man enters off a February 26 optional-claiming win over the course and distance, is 17-for-45 lifetime, and clearly represents the main danger to the favorite.
Lane Cortez's Afleet Ascent (post 8 at 12-1 with John Velazquez), a 6-year-old son of Northern Afleet, was second going long in the Louisiana Champions Day Turf here in December for Faucheux, who also runs Picard Thoroughbred Racing Stable's Fame Feather (post 12 at 12-1 with Florent Geroux), a stretch runner who is 4-for-11 over the course, and Allen Cassedy's Bertie's Galaxy (post 14 at 8-1 with Irad Ortiz Jr.), who has been in three exacta in 11-of-16 lifetime starts, though he's just 1-for-2 on turf.
Completing the Costa Rising field from the rail out: Robin Lane Thoroughbreds' Future Ruler (30-1 with Aubrie Green), who is 5-for-24 lifetime but has lost seven straight for trainer Lee Thomas; Richard Benton's Silver Galaxy (post 3 at 30-1 with Gabriel Saez), who enters off a deep-closing February 19 allowance win here on the dirt but winless in one turf start for trainer Joey Foster; owner-trainer Gerard Perron's homebred Grand Luwegee (post 4 at 12-1 with Roberto Morales), who upset the Louisiana Champions Day Classic on dirt here in December but is 0-for-3 on turf; Set-Hut's X Clown (post 5 at 12-1), a close third to Monte Man last time for trainer Jerry Delhomme; Farm d'Allie Racing Stable's Win Lion Win (post 7 at 20-1 with Eddie Martin Jr.), unraced since running ninth in Keeneland's October 3 Woodford (G2) for trainer Allison Ramsay-Banks; Columbus Circle Partners and trainer Steve Margolis' Yankee Seven (post 9 at 10-1 with Brian Hernandez Jr.), third in the Costa Rising last year; Valene Farms' Classy John (post 10 at 12-1 with Colby Hernandez), second, beaten a head, to Monte Man last time for trainer Dallas Stewart; Lorlow Stables' homebred Bootsie's Galaxy (post 11 at 15-1 with Marcelino Pedroza), fourth to Monte Man last time for trainer Sam David); and Larry and Katherine Menard's homebred A Song for Arch (post 13 at 20-1 with Mitchell Murrill), who won a state-bred optional-claimer two-back for trainer Brett Brinkman.
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