Thursday Fair Grounds race draws stakes-worthy field
New Orleans. LA (SportsNetwork.com) – It may only be a $40,000 allowance race but Thursday’s sixth race at Fair Grounds has drawn an excellent field of seven for the 5 1/2-furlong turf event.
Breaking from the rail will be 2012 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint runner-up Unbridled’s Note, the 2-1 second pick and a horse going for his first win of the year.
Trained by Steve Asmussen for Mike McCarty, Unbridled’s Note was fourth in last year’s Turf Sprint at Santa Anita as the 5-1 third choice less than two lengths behind repeat winner Mizdirection. His most recent victory came last December in Santa Anita’s Daytona Stakes on turf as the 3-2 favorite.
The 5-year-old was third on Oct. 31 in the Damascus Stakes on the Breeders’ Cup Friday undercard at Santa Anita. Back in February, Unbridled’s Note posted consecutive fourth-place finishes in Santa Anita’s Arcadia and Joe Hernandez Stakes. Sidelined until September, Unbridled’s Note came back with a ninth in the Eddie D. Stakes. He has earned $665,517 from 20 career starts with five wins, three seconds and five thirds.
Sum of the Parts, owned by End Zone Athletics and trained by Karl Broberg, is the 9-5 morning line favorite coming off a front-running local win on Nov. 29. The 5-year-old was claimed out of the race from longtime trainer Tom Amoss.
“We’ll see how he does,” Broberg said. “Hopefully he won’t regress in our hands. It came up tough, but we may be the controlling speed.”
Sum of the Parts will be ridden by Chris Rosier from post 4 after breaking from the outside post in his recent win. The 5-year-old has won nine of 25 lifetime starts for $876,189.
Gantry, owned by Brittlyn Stable, is the 5-2 third selection in the turf allowance and will have Miguel Mena in the saddle from post 6. Mena fills in for the injured Richard Eramia who was hurt on Nov. 29 after his mount, Atoof, got spooked and threw the jockey after the day’s fourth race.
The 7-year-old gelding was unable to repeat in the track’s Thanksgiving Handicap on Nov. 27 when he finished fifth out of seven. However, Gantry’s last win came in the Colonel Power Stakes on March 15 over the same course and distance. Gantry has won 10 of 26 career starts for $824,331.
Here is the field from the rail out: Unbridled’s Note, Robby Albarado, 2-1; Rhetorical, Francisco Torres, 20-1; Voodoo Storm, Martin Pedroza, 12-1; Sum of the Parts, Chris Rosier, 9-5; Win Lion Win, Kerwin Clark, 12-1; Gantry, Miguel Mena, 5-2 and Solar Charge, Chris Landeros, 12-1.
Post time Thursday will be approximately 4:50 p.m. ET.
Categorized in: Horses