Calhoun Duo Battle Fearless in New Orleans Classic
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Photo: Hodges Photography / Amanda Hodges Weir
2019 Louisiana Derby winner By My Standards wins a Feb. 9 allowance-level race at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Racing fans aren't the only ones who could find themselves struggling to determine which horse holds the edge in the $400,000 New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots March 21. Trainer Bret Calhoun already feels the same way in analyzing his two runners, graded stakes winners Silver Dust and By My Standards.
Both are in sharp form, have an affinity for the surface at Fair Grounds, and are coming off victories in 1 1/16-mile races that were timed within .35 of a second of one another.
"So maybe you'd give the edge to Silver Dust 'cause it's his third race off a layoff and By My Standards' second race off a layoff," the trainer said. "But then you go out there and watch By My Standards breeze, and you think, 'Oh my god, how are they going to beat him?' It's going to be a really fun race."
And that's just the Calhoun-trained pair. The race also includes stakes winners Lone Sailor, Sonneteer, Tenfold, and Captivating Moon.
Additionally, there are recent Fair Grounds allowance-level winner Chess Chief, the twice stakes-placed Gun It, and Fearless, a 2-for-2 gelding whom trainer Todd Pletcher is propelling into the major stakes ranks.
Pletcher has won this race a record six times with Master Command (2007), Circular Quay (2008,) Battle Plan (2010), Mission Impazible (2011), Graydar (2013), and Palace Malice (2014).
In those days, the race was a handicap. Now it is a stakes run under allowance conditions, as are other former handicaps at Churchill Downs Incorporated-owned tracks.
These conditions require that Silver Dust, the winner of the Feb. 15 Mineshaft Stakes (G3), will carry high weight of 122 pounds, spotting his eight rivals four pounds apiece. Far from a one-race wonder, Silver Dust also captured the West Virginia Governor's Stakes (G3) and Mineshaft in 2019.
He also crossed the wire first in the Jan. 18 Louisiana Stakes (G3), though he was forced to vacate that victory after a post-race positive test, which Daily Racing Form reported was for the presence of levamisole, which can be found in some deworming products.
Last year, he was second in the New Orleans Classic, beaten three-quarters of a length by Core Beliefs.
Video: Mineshaft S. (G3)
Brian Hernandez Jr. rides the 6-year-old son of Tapit whose career began to turn around in the summer of 2018 after he was gelded.
Though not as experienced as 26-time starter Silver Dust, Allied Racing Stable's By My Standards has been on the big stage. He won the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) last year before running 11th in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). He then spent the rest of the year recovering from a lengthy quarter-crack setback.
Brought back in a second-level allowance Feb. 9, he made easy work of outclassed foes, winning by six lengths under confident handling from regular rider Gabe Saez. The 4-year-old son of Goldencents breezed a half-mile in :47 2/5 March 14 that Calhoun said was accomplished effortlessly.
Likely the one to catch in the 1 1/8-mile race is China Horse Club and Winstar Farm's Fearless, who has shown speed in each of his two victories. Most recently, in his first route, he pressed a fast pace before drawing away to complete 1 1/16 miles in a sparkling 1:42.13.
Video
"He's a really big horse," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "He just was immature, and we had him a couple times and had to stop on him for some minor physical setbacks that kind of go along with being such a big horse. He was finally able to put it all together. I thought he was courageous in his debut to win sprinting, and then he improved a great deal stretching out, so we're going right to a stakes. I think he'll handle the 1 1/8 miles. He has good tactical speed, and he seems to be improving a little bit all the time, watching him train."
A 4-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper , Fearless will have Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.
The New Orleans Classic, set for a 3:10 p.m. CT post time, is the first of four consecutive graded stakes Saturday on Louisiana Derby day. Before it goes to post, two other lesser stakes precede it: the $75,000 Costa Rising for Louisiana-breds at 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass and the $100,000 Tom Benson Memorial Stakes Presented by Dixie Beer for fillies and mares on the grass. Those races are carded as the sixth and eighth races, respectively.
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Saturday, March 21, 2020, Race 9Entries: New Orleans Classic S. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Lone Sailor (KY)
James Graham
118
Thomas M. Amoss
6/1
2
2Sonneteer (KY)
Mitchell Murrill
118
J. Keith Desormeaux
15/1
3
3Fearless (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
118
Todd A. Pletcher
9/2
4
4Chess Chief (VA)
Miguel Mena
118
Dallas Stewart
8/1
5
5Tenfold (KY)
John R. Velazquez
118
Steven M. Asmussen
12/1
6
6Silver Dust (KY)
Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
122
W. Bret Calhoun
2/1
7
7Captivating Moon (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
118
Chris M. Block
10/1
8
8By My Standards (KY)
Gabriel Saez
118
W. Bret Calhoun
6/1
9
9Gun It (KY)
Ricardo Santana, Jr.
118
Steven M. Asmussen
6/1
