A deep nine-race card, including two stakes, kicks off opening day, Nov. 22, of the 153rd season of racing at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans.
The two stakes, each worth $100,000, feature Louisiana-breds racing six furlongs, with the Joseph R. Peluso Memorial Stakes for 2-year-olds up first of the stakes as the fifth race, followed a couple races later by the Delmar R. Caldwell Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up. The former race lured a field of seven, topped by Three Chimneys Farm, Coteau Grove Farms, and Dusty Castille's debut winner Voila Magic, while the latter race attracted nine entries, led by Victorious Racing's Manama Gold, a group 3 winner in Dubai in February.
The Coteau Grove Farms-bred Voila Magic is a Volatile half brother to graded stakes winner and $932,900 earner Touchuponastar (Star Guitar ). Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen trains Voila Magic, and Cherie DeVaux takes over the conditioning of Manama Gold, who raced three times this spring and summer for Todd Pletcher after her import to the United States.
Manama Gold, by Star Guitar out of Charged Cotton, is a full sister to the late Ova Charged, a dominant Louisiana-bred sprinter who won 15 of 19 starts and $918,575.
Jose Ortiz, the Eclipse Award-winning jockey of 2017 and currently fourth among riders in North America by earnings through Nov. 20, rides both Voila Magic and Manama Gold. Ortiz is riding the meet at Fair Grounds for the first time this winter.
On opening day, other jockeys riding include Axel Concepcion, Jareth Loveberry, James Graham, Jeiron Barbosa, Colby Hernandez, and Ben Curtis. More riders will travel south and deepen the colony when the Churchill Downs meet concludes Dec. 1.
Asmussen and Brad Cox will have their customary loaded stables, and last year's leading trainer, Shane Wilson, is active on opening day with eight starters.
Cox, Asmussen, and other trainers like Kenny McPeek regularly ship horses between Fair Grounds and Oaklawn Park in Arkansas during winter. McPeek's Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan has recorded a couple of workouts at Fair Grounds, and Thorpedo Anna could join him in training locally over the winter.
Brian Hernandez Jr., their regular jockey, will base at Fair Grounds in the coming weeks.
Over the 76-day season, $8.875 million in stakes purses will be up for grabs, topped by the $1 million, 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby (G2) March 22, 2025.
A series of dirt routes leads toward the Louisiana Derby, beginning with the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 21 and followed by the $250,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) at the same distance Jan. 18. The $500,000, 1 1/8-mile Risen Star Stakes (G2)—won this year by eventual Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Sierra Leone—precedes the Louisiana Derby Feb. 15.
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Friday, November 22, 2024, Race 5Entries: Joseph R. Peluso Memorial S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Tdz Hint of Power (LA) Casey Fusilier 122 Nason Eschete 4/1 2 2Louisiana Jess (LA) Reylu Gutierrez 122 W. Bret Calhoun 9/2 3 3Hawija (LA) Mitchell Murrill 122 W. Bret Calhoun 12/1 4 4A Million Moons (LA) Jairo Rodriguez 122 Henry B. Johnson, Jr. 8/1 5 5Hay Jude (LA) Jareth Loveberry 122 Thomas M. Amoss 5/2 6 6Deal Em Justice (LA) Chris R. Rosier 122 Hance Robbins, Jr. 20/1 7 7Voila Magic (LA) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Steven M. Asmussen 9/5
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Friday, November 22, 2024, Race 7Entries: Delmar R. Caldwell Memorial S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Free Drop Maddy (LA) C.J. McMahon 118 W. Bret Calhoun 12/1 2 2Manama Gold (LA) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Cherie DeVaux 5/2 3 3Sweet Alexis (LA) Mitchell Murrill 120 Patrick Devereux, Jr. 12/1 4 4Lil Chilly (LA) Erica M. Murray 116 Gary M. Scherer 12/1 5 5Spirited Beauty (LA) Julio Ramirez, Jr. 118 Shane Wilson 8/1 6 6Six String (LA) Casey Fusilier 122 Allen Landry 3/1 7 7Noneya (LA) Jose Luis Rodriguez 124 Ronnie P. Ward 8/1 8 8Freeburn (LA) Axel Concepcion 116 Steven M. Asmussen 9/2 9 9Don'tcallmepatsy (LA) Jareth Loveberry 118 Shane Wilson 8/1
