Fair Grounds Opens Friday With Three LA-Bred Stakes
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Photo: Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges, Jr.
Turf racing at Fair Grounds
One of the top winter race meets in the country begins Nov. 17 when Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots opens for its 76-day season that continues through March 24.
Three $75,000 stakes races for Louisiana-breds—the Doris Hebert Memorial Stakes, John Valene Memorial Stakes, and Donovan L. Ferguson Memorial Stakes—kick off the opening-day program. In total, 73 stakes are scheduled, worth $9.7 million, which includes the Dec. 2 Claiming Crown, a series of lucrative starter stakes that do not award black type. The Claiming Crown, now in its 25th year, returns to Fair Grounds for the first time since 2011.
Ninety-eight horses were entered in nine races Friday. Another 13 horses are also-eligibles.
The highlight race of the Fair Grounds meet remains the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2), a 1 3/16-mile dirt race March 23 for 3-year-olds, which is preceded by a series of dirt route stakes beginning with the Gun Runner Stakes for 2-year-olds Dec. 23.
New Orleans native and Fair Grounds mainstay Tom Amoss
Besides the usual presence of horses trained by Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, Cherie DeVaux, Tom Amoss, Brendan Walsh, Michelle Lovell, Bret Calhoun, Michael Stidham, Greg Foley, Ken McPeek, and others, new trainers stabling at Fair Grounds this year include Larry Rivelli, Whit Beckman, Carlo Vaccarezza, Ray Handal, Robert Falcone Jr., and Rob Atras.
Larry Rivelli will be among the new faces at Fair Grounds this winter
Rivelli recently won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) with Patricia Hope's Nobals .
The Fair Grounds grass course, plagued by challenges last year that forced the track to run on the outer lanes and restrict field size, appears more robust this fall based on photographs posted on social media.
The turf @fairgroundsnola, it's beautiful from rail to rail. Our grounds crew worked throughout the summer to bring it back to it's full glory. Racing with @JohnGDooley in the booth. @TrustYourLuck with his expertise and @JoeyDaKRacing arriving a few days later. @TwinSpires pic.twitter.com/08yNzw5Kui
— Ted Armstrong (@TedArmstrong14) November 12, 2023
"About half of the horses I am bringing down are going to be my nice grass horses," Handal said.
Handal will have a smaller string at Fair Grounds compared to his larger division in New York.
"I'll have some lower-level claiming horses to keep us busy playing the claiming game," he added.
Ray Handal will have a string in New Orleans while also maintaining his stable in New York
In the offseason, Fair Grounds built two barns to replace those damaged in 2021 by Hurricane Ida. Last year, the track installed a new infield tote board. Churchill Downs Inc. owns the New Orleans track and its casino.
Last year's top jockey, Rey Gutierrez, returns this meet. Florent Geroux, Brian Hernandez Jr., James Graham, Deshawn Parker, and Corey Lanerie are other veterans planning on riding locally. Some will not begin riding at Fair Grounds until the Churchill Downs fall meet closes later this month.
Riding newcomers to the circuit include Ben Curtis and Jaime Torres. Curtis, formerly a top rider in England, will be represented by Ron Faucheux, who, after winning three trainer titles in a row, stepped away from the profession to become a jockey agent.
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