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Rematch of the Star Guitar Exacta in Sunday’s Star Guitar Stakes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Kevin Kilroy
Notes Writer/Media Relations
[email protected]

 

 

 

  • Charlie T returns from open company stakes to take on full field in Page Cortez
  • Class test for Nosilverspoonshere in Shantel Lanerie 
  • Closing Day Features an Early First post, Three Stakes, Fifteen Races, and a Breast Cancer Awareness Second Line.

New Orleans, La (March 25, 2023) – Set-Hut’s Touchuponastar and Brittlyn Stable’s Behemah Star have been the top two finishers in each of the division’s last two big affairs, and they will take the rivalry back to Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots for the closing day stakes race named for their phenomenal sire. The $75,000 Star Guitar Stakes presented by Brittlyn Stable will be run at 1 1/16 miles as seven older Louisiana-bred males will enter the gates in the first of three stakes races which will close out Sunday’s card and the 2022-2023 meet.

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will conclude the 2022-2023 racing meet this week with a full slate of horse racing and special events. First post on Sunday is 11:00 a.m. (all times Central), and the 15-race card concludes with three stakes, followed by The Shantel Lanerie Breast Cancer Survivors Second Line. 

Closing Day for Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots’ 2022-2023 meet is on Sunday, March 26. There will be an early post time of 11 a.m. CT. The 15-race program concludes with three Louisiana-bred stakes beginning in Race 13: the $75,000 Star Guitar Stakes presented by Brittlyn Stable, the $75,000 Page Cortez, and the $75,000 Shantel Lanerie Memorial.


Each Pick 5 Sunday will have a mandatory payout.

One year ago in the Star Guitar Stakes, it was Behemah Star grinding out a late kick that would make his sire proud. The five-year-old stabled with Jose Camejo has not won since, but he enters Sunday’s renewal having run second in three straight stakes. In the last two it was the new star on the scene, Touchuponastar, who got the best of Behemah. One of the strongest performances by an older statebred male at the meet, the Jeff Delhomme trainee took it to the field in the Louisiana Champions Days Classic, blasting to the front and never looking back. He returned in February’s Premier Champions Stakes to rate behind the speed and pull away by two as Behemah Star dug in but failed to catch up.

Tim Thornton stays aboard the 9-5 morning-line favorite Touchuponastar who drew post No. 2. Immediately to his outside in the three hole and tabbed at  7-2, Behemah Star will be reunited with his 2022 Star Guitar Stakes pilot and meet-leading jockey, Rey Gutierrez. 

Here is the complete field for the Star Guitar Stakes presented by Brittlyn Stable from the rail out (with jockey, trainer, and morning line odds): 1. Smarty Alex (Alex Castillo, Shane Wilson, 10-1); 2. Touchuponastar (Tim Thornton, Jeff Delhomme, 4-5); 3. Behemah Star (Rey Gutierrez, Jose Camejo, 7-2); 4. Blue Cheese (Corey Lanerie, Sam Breaux, 10-1); 5. Highland Creek (Deshawn Parker, Bret Calhoun, 8-1); 6. Cosmic Train (James Graham, Jerry Delhomme, 10-1); 7. Budro Talking (Mitchell Murrill, Eduardo Rodriguez, 8-1).

*****


Exiting three strong finishes in open stakes, Elite Thoroughbred’s Charlie T entered Sunday’s $75,000 Page Cortez Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots to face an oversubscribed field of statebred fillies. Trained by Lee Thomas, the Louisiana-bred drew the rail and was installed as the 5-2 favorite in the morning line. Going 5 1/2 furlongs across the Stall Wilson Turf Course, the Page Cortez is slated as Race 14 of 15 on closing day, post time is 5:17 p.m. CT.

With an oversubscribed field of 12 3-year-old and up fillies,  only nine will run with the portable rail set at 28 feet.

In January it was the Menard where Charlie T showed she belonged against open stakes company, finishing second to next-out winner Oeuvre. Thomas then shipped the 4-year-old to Gulfstream Park where she was second in the Ladies Turf Sprint and third in the Captiva Island. Charlie T is a three-time winner at the distance on the grass. 

Here is the complete field for the Page Cortez Stakes from the rail out (with jockey, trainer, and morning line): 1. Charlie T (Corey Lanerie, Lee Thomas, 5-2); 2. Beleout (James Graham, Courtney Dandridge, 9-2); 3. World War (Jareth Loveberry, Ron Faucheux, 5-1); 4. Wholelottamo (Colby Hernandez, Jayde Gelner, 8-1); 5. Snowball (Rey Gutierrez, Sam Breaux, 6-1); 6. Final Quest (Tommy Pompell, Brett Brinkman, 10-1); 7. Maestria (Mitchell Murrill, Chris Hartman, 6-1); 8. Drop Dead Sexy (Jose Guerrero, Shane Wilson, 20-1); 9. First I’ve seen (Casey Fusilier, Victor Arceneaux, 8-1). Also eligible: 10. Hei Hei Custivity (Aubrie Green, Corale Richards, 20-1); 11. Harriet’s Dream (Joe Stokes, Allen Landry, 20-1); 12. Nodah (Vicente Del-Cid, Kenneth Roberts, 30-1).


*****

One of the most impressive older Louisiana-bred fillies to come on the scene at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots this meet, Rocket Ship Racing’s Nosilverspoonshere will step up to a classy field of older females in Sunday’s $75,000  Shantel Lanerie Memorial. The final race of the 2022-2023 meet, post time for Race 15 is 5:46 p.m. CT. The Breast Cancer Survivor and Memorial Second Line, benefiting the Shantel Lanerie Breast Cancer Foundation, will be held immediately after (more details below). Brook Smith’s Rocket Ship Racing will be donating half of Nosilverspoonshere earnings in Sunday’s stakes to the Shantel Lanerie Foundation.

Though a statebred, Nosilverspoonshere did not race in Louisiana until last January, the first start of her 4-year-old campaign. Previously trained by Jeff Hiles, Tom Amoss took over after the Connect filly out of the Giant’s Causeway dam Grand Style’s form went south in the 2022 Iowa Oaks (G3). At Fair Grounds she rattled off a 17-length dominant front-running score, backed up with an 8 1/2 length victory, both at the statebred allowance level. Corey Lanerie, who lost his wife Shantel to complications from treating breast cancer, will look to make his third mount on Nosilverspoonshere the most meaningful as this race is memorialized in Shantel’s honor. 

Here is the complete field for the Shantel Lanerie Memorial from the rail out (with jockey, trainer, and morning line odds): 1. A G’s Charlotte (Marcelino Pedroza JrPatricia West, 4-1); 2. Mispachah (Rey Gutierrez, Bret Calhoun, 10-1); 3. Winning Romance (Deshawn Parker, Bret Calhoun, 4-1); 4. Free Like a Girl (Pedro Cotto Jr., Chasey Pomier, 7-2); 5. Medley (Brian Hernandez Jr., Steve Asmussen, 12-1); 6. Mo Bling (James Graham, Alfonso Balderas, 20-1); 7. Nosilverspoonshere (Corey Lanerie, Tom Amoss, 3-1); 8. Fort Polk (Emanuel Nieves, Pat Mouton, 9-2).


After the last race on Sunday, Fair Grounds is hosting our inaugural Breast Cancer Second Line, honoring fighters and survivors as the race to end cancer continues. In traditional second-line fashion, participants will be joined by a New Orleans brass band and parade across the infield.


The Breast Cancer Survivor and Memorial Second Line will benefit the Shantel Lanerie Breast Cancer Foundation (https://shantellaneriefoundation.com). Founded in September 2018, the foundation was created in loving memory of Shantel Lanerie with the goal to help spread the message of education and early detection as well as to assist with the needs of those undergoing treatment. The wife of jockey Corey Lanerie, Shantel Lanerie died from complications from chemotherapy from Stage 1 breast cancer. 


Breast Cancer Second Line info:


Breast Cancer Survivor and Memorial Second Line benefitting the Shantel Lanerie Foundation

• Sunday, March 26th after the Shantel Lanerie race (5:46 pm)

o On-site registration this week in the Valet lobby during racing hours. 

o Registration will close on Sunday at 3 pm

• Participants will be hosted in the tent. A wristband will be required to enter the tent.

• Rick Mocklin and The Southern Voice Band will perform in the tent from 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm.

• Shantel and Corey’s daughter Brittlyn will serve as the Grand Marshall.

• Breast Cancer shirts and hats will be on sale in Retail.

 

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About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, LA, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 15 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 151st Thoroughbred Racing Season – highlighted by the 110th running of the Louisiana Derby – will run from Nov 18, 2022 through March 26, 2023. More information is available online at www.fairgroundsracecourse.com.

Touchuponastar horse racing at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots