Colonel Liam to Fair Grounds for Muniz Memorial Classic

After opening his season with a narrow victory in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, Colonel Liam will venture to Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots for the first time for a start in the $300,000 Muniz Memorial Stakes (G2T) March 20.

Colonel Liam enters Saturday's 1 1/8-mile turf test with victories in three of his four career starts on the grass.

Trainer Todd Pletcher saw Colonel Liam place first in his maiden debut last spring in a one-mile race on the dirt at Gulfstream ahead of a third-place finish in an allowance optional claiming race on the Gulfstream dirt last May.

Switched to the turf in his next race, Colonel Liam delivered a clear victory in an allowance race at Saratoga Race Course and followed with a close fourth-place finish in the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. After some time off, he returned with a 3 1/4-length score Dec. 26 in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream, which set up the son of Liam's Map  for victory in the Pegasus Turf—his graded stakes and 4-year-old debut.

Campaigned by Robert and Lawana Low, he has a 4-0-1 record from six starts and earnings of $690,965. Three-time reigning champion jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who has been aboard for all three of Colonel Liam's turf race wins, will make the trip from South Florida to New Orleans.

While Pletcher doesn't rule out a return to dirt at some point, he told Fair Grounds media there are plenty of big opportunities for Colonel Liam on the turf.

"I will say now as an older horse, he has trained more impressively on the dirt than he used to so at some point we might consider trying that again, but he's doing so well on the grass now that we felt that the Muniz was good timing-wise to hopefully propel him forward to the race at Churchill on Derby Day," Pletcher said of the May 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1T). "Right now, the plan is to hopefully go from the Muniz to Churchill, and then there is a really good schedule of some high-quality grass races all summer. Hopefully, we can have a good season with him."

Colonel Liam is one of three horses that secured graded stakes wins in their previous races entered in Saturday's expected field of 12 older horses. Lothenbach Stables' homebred Captivating Moon captured the local prep for the Muniz when the 6-year-old son of Malibu Moon  rallied from 10th for an upset score in the Fair Grounds Stakes (G3T) Feb. 13 while Terry Hamilton's Spooky Channel comes off a close score in the John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes (G3T) Jan. 31 at Sam Houston Race Park.

Trained by Chris Block, Captivating Moon picked up the first graded stakes victory of his career when he won the Fair Grounds at odds of 43-1. While he secured the milestone win there, Captivating Moon had been knocking on the door with placings in five previous graded stakes.

After winning five straight races at Turf Paradise in 2019, Spooky Channel has proven up to the challenge in some top turf stakes throughout the country. Trained by Brian Lynch, the 6-year-old son of English Channel  also won last year's W. L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) on the Gulfstream turf.

Entries: Muniz Memorial Classic S. (G2T)

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, Saturday, March 20, 2021, Race 12

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $300,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:43 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Factor This (KY)	Shaun Bridgmohan	124	Brad H. Cox	4/1
2	2Ninety One Assault (LA)	Mitchell Murrill	118	Thomas Morley	30/1
3	3Captivating Moon (KY)	Marcelino Pedroza	122	Chris M. Block	12/1
4	4Cross Border (NY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Michael J. Maker	5/1
5	5Colonel Liam (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	124	Todd A. Pletcher	3/1
6	6Logical Myth (KY)	Adam Beschizza	122	Joe Sharp	6/1
7	7Two Emmys (KY)	James Graham	118	Hugh H. Robertson	20/1
8	8Spooky Channel (KY)	Florent Geroux	122	Brian A. Lynch	8/1
9	9Conviction Trade (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	Michael J. Maker	15/1
10	10Peace Achieved (KY)	Declan Carroll	118	Mark E. Casse	20/1
11	11Olympic Runner (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	Mark E. Casse	8/1
12	12Pixelate (KY)	Luis Saez	122	Michael Stidham	8/1