Barn Notes
Hometown Horseman Looks to FG Opening Day
- Hometown Horseman Looking Forward to Fair Grounds Opening Day
- Clockers Find Fair Grounds Work Tab Busy Last Weekend
- Opening Weekend Nominations Due Saturday; Derby Early Bird Nears Deadline
- Thanksgiving Auction Closes Sunday
Hometown Horseman Looking Forward to Fair Grounds Opening Day
New Orleans native and longtime Fair Grounds trainer Al Stall Jr. got back to his home state and hometown track a week ago, and it’s an understatement to say he’s happy to be home in advance of the track’s 136th Opening Day Nov. 22.
“For one thing, I know how to analyze The Weather Channel,” quipped Stall in reference his recent departure from an increasingly frigid Louisville, Ky., “and for whatever reason, my horses always seem to blossom when they get back down here. I’ve worked 21 horses so far down here, and they all seem to be going in the right direction.
“Total, for instance, breezed three-eighths this morning (Friday),” said Stall, talking of his 3-year-old filly who won Fair Grounds’ Letellier Memorial Stakes last New Year’s Day and then finished second in last spring’s Grade III Silverbulletday Stakes. “She’s doing really well. She seems to be a bigger and stronger package than she was last year, and we’re hoping to have her ready for the Leggio ($100,000 Dr. A. B. Leggio Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares at about 5 1/2 furlongs on the Stall-Wilson turf course Jan. 12).
“This racing surface (rebuilt in time for last season after Hurricane Katrina) has had a year to settle, and it seems to be more level now,” Stall concluded. “My horses are all doing good so far – knock on wood – and we seem to be headed in the right direction for opening day (Thanksgiving Day Nov. 22).”
Clockers Find Fair Grounds Work Tab Busy Last Weekend
The Fair Grounds oval re-opened for training Nov. 1, with hundreds of horses already on the backstretch. That became clear two days later, when the first day of clocked workouts was held Saturday.
The clockers were busy when 69 horses received recorded works Saturday, followed by 88 additional works last Sunday. The work tab has remained steady throughout the first full week of activity on the track.
Opening Weekend Nominations Due Saturday; Derby Early Bird Nears Deadline
Director of Racing/Racing Secretary Sam Abbey reminds horsemen that nominations close Saturday for the 82nd running of the $60,000 Thanksgiving Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs – the traditional opening day feature at Fair Grounds.
Also closing Saturday are nominations to the 22nd running of the $60,000 Pago Hop, for 3-year-old fillies at about one mile over the Stall-Wilson turf course to be run on Nov. 24. It’s the first of 18 Saturdays on the 2007-08 schedule, with every Saturday card featuring at least one stakes race.
Another significant note for horsemen this year as it relates to stakes nominations: All races valued at less than $100,000, including both opening week stakes, will not carry a nomination fee.
In addition to those stakes closings this Saturday, horsemen are reminded that early bird nominations ($500) to the 95th running of the Grade II $600,000 Louisiana Derby are due Saturday, Nov. 24. Early bird nominees are also nominated to the first two races of the Louisiana Derby Series: the $100,000 Lecomte Stakes (Grade III) on Jan. 12, 2008, and the $300,000 Risen Star Stakes (Grade III) on Feb. 9, 2008.
The Louisiana Derby is the headliner of the richest card in Louisiana racing history on March 8, 2008, with six stakes worth $2.2 million.
Thanksgiving Auction Closes Sunday
The online auction for New Orleans’ most popular Thanksgiving dinner – inside Fair Grounds’ clubhouse dining room – closes Sunday morning.
There are 11 separate auctions on eBay, based on the number of seats at the table and the row of the tiered dining room.
To access the auction, search “Fair Grounds” at ebay.com or visit the full auction story on Fair Grounds’ website at fairgroundsracecourse.com.
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