Among Steve Asmussen’s five Saturday victories at Fair Grounds came Epicenter’s record-setting Louisiana Derby win and Echo Zulu’s heart-stopping Fair Grounds Oaks win. Both victories brought more than a five-spot for Asmussen and jockey Joel Rosario. They brought horseplayers a key glimpse into how Asmussen will be a force in […]
Tag: Louisiana Derby
Louisiana Derby Sets Up as the Epicenter Kentucky Derby Prep
Until the last few years, the Louisiana Derby has never been known as a catapult to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. That is, unless you were connected to Black Gold (1924), Grindstone (1996) and Funny Cide (2003). Until 2019, those were the only three Louisiana Derby alums wearing roses the […]
Hot Rod Charlie Roars to Life for Kentucky Derby Vet O’Neill
Doug O’Neill already has two of these Kentucky Derbies on the mantle, both with colts he planned on taking to Churchill Downs – I’ll Have Another and Nyquist. But when Hot Rod Charlie came to his Santa Anita Park barn as a $110,000 yearling purchase, the trainer looked at his […]
Looking for a Derby Down-Ticket Dark Horse? Say ‘Hello’ to O Besos
Let’s be clear about O Besos and his Kentucky Derby victory prospects upfront. This is not a victory endorsement for a closer in a race where closers’ victory hopes routinely die painfully short on the Churchill Downs stretch. O Besos has minimal tactical speed, one run in him, and an […]
Louisiana Derby Offers Big, Familiar Names in the Big Easy
Yes, the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby has a familiar look to it that goes beyond bringing us familiar names like Mandaloun, Midnight Bourbon, Proxy – and yes, California import Hot Rod Charlie. It’s those first three that give the first of the 170-point Kentucky Derby preps that déjà vu look. […]
Ex-Derby Hopeful Wells Bayou Finds Another Trail — the Comeback
Wells Bayou put himself on last year’s Kentucky Derby Trail with an electric, front-running style comprising equal parts promise and peril. Now, the reigning Louisiana Derby winner puts himself on the comeback trail in Saturday’s Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes. The $125,000 Louisiana is one of six stakes on Saturday’s Fair […]
Three Kentucky Derby Preps Headline Fair Grounds’ 2020-21 Stakes Cards
Three key Kentucky Derby prep races headline Fair Grounds Race Course’s 51 stakes schedule for the 2020-21 season, which begins Thanksgiving Day. Those stakes on the Louisiana track carry a combined purse of more than $7 million over the 76-day meet, which runs through March 28. What’s interesting about the […]
Bone Bruising Sends Wells Bayou to the Triple Crown Sidelines
Right on the hoofprints of Maxfield’s injury and subsequent departure from the Kentucky Derby Trail, Louisiana Derby winner Wells Bayou suffered bone bruising that will keep him out of the Sept. 5 Derby. Currently third on the active Derby qualifying points ladder with 104, Wells Bayou breezed a half-mile in […]
Kentucky Derby Qualifying Trail Becomes Longer, More Unpredictable
With the postponement of the Kentucky Derby from May to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Derby Trail just got a lot longer. That means the Derby’s qualifying points system figures to get a lot steeper in terms of how many points are required to earn a spot […]
Full Field, Equal Talent Means Betting Opportunities in Louisiana Derby
When it comes to A-list 3-year-old talent, this year’s Louisiana Derby is an example of a race that is an inch deep and a mile – actually 1 3/16 miles – wide. It’s a Kentucky Derby prep featuring 14 solid, but heretofore unspectacular, horses all in search of a breakout […]