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Familiar Stables, And A Few Newcomers, Converging At Fair Grounds This Winter

A deep and competitive backstretch will be that much tougher this winter when Fair Grounds opens their 149th meet Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, as several new trainers will make their presence felt for the first time. The who's who list is led by reigning four-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, who will have 24 stalls and joins two-time defending champion Brad Cox, along with perennial powers Ron Faucheux, Tom Amoss and Steve Asmussen, in making up one of the most talented and well-stocked group of conditioners to have ever descended on Fair Grounds.

Brown, based primarily in New York for the first decade of his career, has branched out in recent years and put down roots in Kentucky this year for the first time, which created a natural progression towards Fair Grounds.

“Being in the Midwest at Churchill Downs, and with things going well, we felt it made a lot of sense to bring a division to Fair Grounds and try to establish a year-round circuit,” Brown said. “We're optimistic that we can be competitive down there this winter.”

Brown, who has long had the deepest and most talented grass horses in the country, is familiar with Fair Grounds' biggest turf stakes, the Muniz Memorial Classic (G2), as he shipped Bricks and Mortar in to win the race in 2019, in what helped kickstart a Horse of the Year campaign that ended with a win in the Breeders' Cup Turf. While he plans on taking advantage of the local turf course, he expects to be well represented on all levels.

“Right now, we're still finalizing who we're going to bring down there and what kind of horses fit best, regardless of what class or division it might be,” Brown said. “We'll look over the condition book and see, on a horse-by-horse basis, what makes the most sense. If we have a lot of horses for the same condition it makes sense to separate them. And certainly, we'll keep our clients in mind as well, as some like to race in certain spots, based on where they are located.”

Brown is based at Palm Meadows in South Florida during the winter and will still call that home, which means Whit Beckman, a Louisville native who oversaw the Kentucky division this year, will be running the shedrow at Fair Grounds.

“Whit has been with us a few years now and has done a terrific job with the Kentucky string this year,” Brown said. “He's proven himself to be an excellent horseman and will be familiar with a lot of the horses we send to Fair Grounds.”

Though the list of newcomers is clearly led by Brown, there are several other nationally recognized trainers who will have a string at Fair Grounds this winter, including Norm Casse, who will have 21 stalls, while Ignacio Correas (26), Cherie DeVaux (22), Tommy Drury (6), Austin Gustafson (22), Anthony Quartarolo (14), Kelly Rubley (15), and Shane Wilson (40) are all new faces.

A smaller presence at Fair Grounds in recent years, Keith Desormeaux (25) has upped the ante for 2020-21. He's enjoyed local success in the past, winning the Risen Star (G2) in 2013 with 135-1 longshot Ive Struck a Nerve, while Drury could bring G2 winning 3-year-old Art Collector to run in next season's handicap division.

Cox, who pulled clear late last year and won the trainer's title with 40 wins, is the favorite to win it this year and will have the maximum allotted 44 stalls, as will Faucheux, who ran second with 34 wins. Amoss (29 wins) and Asmussen (26) also have 44 stalls, as do top-10 trainers Bret Calhoun, Joe Sharp, Al Stall, and Mike Stidham.

The jockey's race was a meet-long battle last year, as James Graham booted home 63 winners to outlast Mitchell Murrill by one and Colby Hernandez by three, and the trio will again lead the way this year. Florent Geroux (56 wins), Brian Hernandez Jr. (44), Adam Beschizza (44), Shaun Bridgmohan (38), Gabriel Saez (35), and Miguel Mena (32) were all in the top-10 and will be back this winter as well.

Opening Day marks the first of 76 racing days as Fair Grounds will run through March 28. There will be over $7 million in stakes races, highlighted by the March 20, $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. A pocket schedule, along with a complete list of the stakes schedule, can be found here: https://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-2021-THOROUGHBRED-RACING-AND-STAKES-CALENDAR.pdf

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After First Graded Stakes Win As Owner, Egan Sees Big Things Ahead For Red Knight

Tom Egan of Trinity Farm said he was delighted to score his first graded stakes victory as an owner when watching Red Knight capture the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland last month. On Saturday, Egan hopes to see his New York homebred double up in the Grade 3, $100,000 Red Smith going 1 3/8-miles over the inner turf at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Conditioned by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Red Knight received a well-executed ride by jockey James Graham, sitting in eighth and weaving his way through traffic around the far turn to roll home a two-length winner over pacesetter and fellow Red Smith aspirant Postulation.

Affectionately known as “Red,” the 6-year-old Pure Prize chestnut is out of Isabel Away, a gray daughter of Skip Away purchased by Egan for $60,000 at the recommendation of his late wife Jaye at the 2003 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“My wife saw the mare and said that we just had to have her, so she was really the genesis of all that,” Egan recalled. “I think the first thing she liked was the color, but upon closer examination, she really liked her an awful lot. When I saw her in the back walking ring before she went out to the sales ring, she was just very classy and composed. At that point I said, 'Yeah, sounds good.'”

While Isabel Away was unplaced in both of her starts against graded stakes company and found the winner circle only once in 11 lifetime starts, her progeny have found success at a high level.

In addition to Red Knight, who has earned $732,158 from a career record of 21-8-6-1, Isabel Away has produced three-time stakes winner Macagone and Birchwood Road, a full-brother to Red Knight, who amassed over a quarter-million dollars in a 46-race career.

But Red Knight has proven to be the most superior of her offspring. In addition to his last out win in the Sycamore, Red Knight won the two-mile H. Allen Jerkens Memorial in December 2018 at Gulfstream Park and the Point of Entry last October at Belmont Park.

Additionally, Red Knight has placed three other times against graded stakes company, including a runner-up effort in last year's Red Smith to Sadler's Joy and a second to Arklow in the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup under Luis Saez one start prior to his Sycamore triumph. Last April, he was second to Bigger Picture, winner of the 2016 Red Smith, in the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland.

“Red ran very well last April in the Elkhorn,” Egan said. “We put away Zulu Alpha but couldn't quite hold off Bigger Picture. Almost every time he's been beaten in a graded stakes race, it's been by a Grade 1 winner. I liked the way Luis rode him at Kentucky Downs. He had him a little closer to the pace that day, but Red is versatile. He doesn't need to be too far back. He'll close ground readily. I think the field came up tougher this year than it did last year.”

Red Knight will be ridden by Jose Ortiz on Saturday from post 10.

“I'm glad that we got Jose aboard the horse. I think he's a terrific person and a really good rider,” Egan said

Egan said he has high hopes heading into 2021 for Red Knight, listing the Grade 1 Man o' War at Belmont Park and Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational at Saratoga Race Course as long-term targets.

While the Grade 1 Pegasus Turf Cup on January 26 at Gulfstream Park could be an option, Egan said the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight at the South Florida oval on the same day would be a more logical spot.

“Those are races we would be interested in,” Egan said. “The W.L McKnight is the same day. The Pegasus is a mile and three-sixteenths, which is a little short for him. It would be better for him to face tough horses going a longer distance.”

Egan described Red Knight as a high-energy, good-feeling horse and said that not a whole lot has changed in terms of temperament since he was a yearling.

“I don't think he's calmed down much,” Egan said.

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East Or West? Delacour Keeping Options Open For Versatile Luck Money

Catherine Wills' Luck Money could make a second consecutive appearance in a New York turf route, though trainer Arnaud Delacour said he has not yet decided on the 3-year-old Lookin At Lucky filly's next spot.

The Grade 3, $100,000 Long Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 3/8 miles on Aqueduct Racetrack's inner turf on Nov. 28 remains a possibility, though the Grade 1, $300,000 American Oaks at Santa Anita Park on Dec. 28 is also still in play.

“I'm not sure yet. I'm going to breeze her this weekend and decide. There's a possibility I'll skip that race and run her in the American Oaks a month later,” said Delacour on Luck Money, who continues to train at Fair Hill in Maryland.

Delacour said he initially thought Luck Money could use the extra time between starts after stretching out to 1 1/2 miles for the first time last out to win the Zagora on Oct. 31 over yielding Belmont turf.

The Kentucky homebred defeated a nine-horse Zagora field, besting Hungry Kitten by a neck, for a 91 Beyer Speed Figure that tied a personal best. It was Luck Money's first stakes victory in the longest race of her career, having won previously at 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles.

“I thought the last race was going to take too much out of her, but she's been training very well, so I'll get together with the owner and see what she wants to do,” Delacour said.

Luck Money has won over turf listed as firm, good and yielding, making her a versatile option for her connections.

“She's neat in that regard. She seems to run well on any type of track and everywhere; I've shipped her quite a bit,” Delacour said. “She hasn't really had a bad race. She's exceptional.”

Luck Money is 3-3-4 in 10 career starts with earnings of $224,200. After besting older horses in the Zagora, the sophomore could face the same conditions again in the Long Island, while the American Oaks is restricted to fellow 3-year-olds.

“Running her against older fillies, they have a lot more experience, especially going a mile and a half, but she just stepped right up, so that was interesting,” Delacour said.

Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Ode to Joy could also be making a stakes appearance at the Big A, targeting the $100,000 Autumn Days for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going six furlongs on the outer turf on Nov. 29.

Nearing the end of her 5-year-old campaign, Ode to Joy could be looking to move into the next phase of her career on a high note, entering off a third-place finish in the five-furlong The Very One on Oct. 1 at Pimlico. The race before, she ran fourth in the Incredible Revenge moved off the turf on August 16 at Monmouth and will make her Aqueduct debut looking for her first stakes victory.

“Depending on the turf, there's a little bit of rain in the forecast next week, but if it's on the turf, I'll do that with her,” Delacour said. “She's been very consistent. She might not be the favorite, but I hope she can run well in there. I think the owners have in mind to breed her in the spring, so we're going to try and see if we can add to her resume this winter and she'll be a broodmare.”

While Ode to Joy's racing career could be winding down, Dame of Malta's is on an upward trajectory after a third-place debut finish on Oct. 21 at Keeneland in a one-mile maiden race moved off the turf.

Owned by Runnymede Farm and Catesby Clay, the juvenile daughter of Union Rags is slated to make her turf debut on Saturday at Aqueduct in Race 6. Her form on grass is intriguing to Delacour, as the promising bay filly is out of the multiple graded stakes winning mare Bizzy Caroline, who is a half-sister to 2017 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Female Lady Eli.

“I think it'll be interesting; she ran better than our expectations last time on the dirt,” Delacour said. “She was a little green with the kickback, but she really showed up and did it nice. I think the turf should be good. It remains to be seen, but I like the way she's been training. She's closely related to Lady Eli, so that's the type of horse you want to see on the turf at least once, right?”

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Motion Looking Ahead To 2021 With Mean Mary; Sending German Group 1 Winner Laccario West To Del Mar

Trainer Graham Motion said he is already thinking well into 2021 with multiple graded stakes-winner Mean Mary with a title defense in the Grade 2 New York at Belmont Park an option for the well-bred daughter of Scat Daddy.

Owned and bred by Alex Campbell, Jr., Mean Mary was a gate-to-wire winner of the classic-distance turf event, which she won by 5 ¼ lengths under jockey Luis Saez. She was a last out seventh in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, where she was in contention early on and maintained a favorable position in mid-stretch before fading.

Motion also saddled Invincible Gal and Alda in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, who finished a respective 11th and 12th.

“They all came back well,” Motion said of his Breeders' Cup contingent. “I was hoping for a better run from Mean Mary, but it's the Breeders' Cup and these races are obviously very tough.”

Out of the Grade 1-winning Dynaformer mare Karlovy Vary, Mean Mary posted her fourth straight victory in the New York which she followed with a game runner-up finish to Rushing Fall in the Grade 1 Diana on Aug. 23 at Saratoga. Prior to the New York, she won the Grade 2 La Prevoyante going 1 ½ miles and Grade 3 Orchid going 1 3/8 miles, both at Gulfstream Park, displaying a similar frontrunning fashion.

Motion also spoke of Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic runner-up Laccario, who joined Motion's barn after making his North American debut in the 1 ½-mile event at Belmont Park and said the German Group 1 winner will ship to California for the Grade 2, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 27 at Del Mar.

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