Pyro gets in his final workout Monday morning for Saturday's Louisiana Derby. He covered five furlongs in 1:00 1-5 handily.
Photo by Lou Hodges Jr.
Barn Notes
Zito Sending Stevil as Surprise La. Derby Starter
FAIR GROUNDS BARN NOTES
Headlines for Monday, March 03, 2008
· Zito Sending Stevil as Surprise Louisiana Derby Starter
· Pyro Breezes Half-Mile Monday for Louisiana Derby
· Tale of Ekati Works Handily at Palm Meadows
· ‘Blessing,’ ‘Spell’ Get Final Fair Grounds Oaks Tune-Ups
· Grasshopper Goes 1:01.40 in New Orleans Handicap Drill
Zito Sending Stevil as Surprise Louisiana Derby Starter
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito surprised those in attendance at Monday’s Louisiana Derby draw by naming Robert LaPenta’s Stevil to the 95th running of the Grade II event that highlights the winter racing season at Fair Grounds.
The last-minute edition expanded the $600,000 Louisiana Derby field to nine 3-year-old colts – all with aspirations to the 2008 Triple Crown later in the spring.
Stevil, a gray/roan son of Maria’s Mon out of a Storm Creek mare, broke his maiden at first asking last Oct. 13 at Belmont Park but has remained winless since then, although never off the board in his three additional starts.
Probably the most recognizable outing in Stevil’s four-race career came Jan. 4 at Gulfstream when he finished second to Visionaire. That Michael Matz-trained colt finished third in Fair Grounds’ Risen Star Stakes Feb. 9 and is currently being pointed for Aqueduct’s Grade III Gotham Stakes on Saturday.
Stevil, who will break from the rail in the Louisiana Derby, was installed at 15-1 in the morning-line and will be ridden by Calvin Borel, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense.
Pyro Breezes Half-Mile Monday for Louisiana Derby
Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Pyro, easily the star attraction for Saturday’s $600,000 Louisiana Derby at 7-5 in the morning-line, got his final tune-up for the centerpiece event of the New Orleans Thoroughbred racing season by breezing an easy half-mile at Fair Grounds Monday morning in :50.80.
The Steve Asmussen trainee vaulted to pre-Triple Crown headline hype in his last start when he came from last place to run down all competition in Fair Grounds’ $300,000 Risen Star Stakes Feb. 9.
Contested at the same 1 1/16-mile distance as Saturday’s Grade II Louisiana Derby, the Risen Star is the designed prep for Saturday’s showcase race but was also Pyro’s seasonal debut as a 3-year-old.
Last fall he finished second to eventual 2-year-old Eclipse Award winner War Pass in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Oct. 27 at Monmouth Park.
Tale of Ekati Works Handily at Palm Meadows
Charles Fipke’s Tale of Ekati, 7-2 second choice in the morning-line for Saturday’s Grade II Louisiana Derby, worked five furlongs handily in a bullet 1:00.20 at South Florida’s Palm Meadows training center Monday morning.
Trained by Barclay Tagg, who saddled Funny Cide to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2003, Tale of Ekati will be making his first start as a 3-year-old in Saturday’s $600,000 Louisiana Derby. The son of Tale of the Cat out of a Sunday Silence mare finished fourth in his last start as a 2-year-old in the last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Monmouth Park Oct. 27.
Tagg also prepped Funny Cide for the Kentucky Derby by running in the Louisiana Derby, where he placed second behind Peace Rules. The order was reversed in Louisville, where Funny Cide captured the “Run for the Roses” and Peace Rules finished third.
‘Blessing,’ ‘Spell’ Get Final Fair Grounds Oaks Tune-Ups
Patti and Hal Earnhardt III’s Indian Blessing, Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly last season, drilled six furlongs handily over the Santa Anita racing strip Monday morning in a bullet 1:11.60, one-day prior to shipping to New Orleans for Saturday’s Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks.
Trained by Bob Baffert, the undefeated Indian Blessing shipped in to Louisiana last month to win Fair Grounds’ $200,000 Silverbulletday Stakes in the designed prep for Saturday’s $400,000 Oaks – main event for 3-year-old fillies in New Orleans each winter.
Also working Monday prior to Saturday’s Fair Grounds Oaks was Brereton C. Jones’ Proud Spell, Indian Blessing’s constant rival who finished second to the Eclipse Award winner in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Monmouth Park Oct. 27, and was once again second to that rival last month in the Silverbulletday Stakes Feb. 9.
Proud Spell breezed an easy five-eighths at Fair Grounds Monday morning in 1:03.
Grasshopper Goes 1:01.40 in New Orleans Handicap Drill
William Farish et al.’s Grasshopper, winner of Fair Grounds Grade III Mineshaft Handicap last month and runner-up by a half-length to Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense in last summer’s Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Fair Grounds Monday morning.
The Neil Howard trainee, who was also the runner-up in last fall’s Grade II Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, was entered for Saturday’s Grade II New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds, where he will face last year’s Louisiana Derby winner Circular Quay.
The $500,000 New Orleans Handicap, main event of the local season for older horses on the main track, is one of six stakes races worth a total of $2.3 million to be run Saturday, making this Louisiana Derby Day the richest day of Thoroughbred racing in Louisiana history.
