Hit Show to Launch New Season in Mineshaft Stakes

After finishing as the leading earner of any North American-trained horse in 2025 when earnings in the Middle East are included, Hit Show  will chart a familiar path when he opens his 6-year-old season Feb. 11.

Wathnan Racing's Hit Show is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the $250,000 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots | BloodHorse.com Track Profile">Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Trainer Brad Cox hopes to use Saturday's 1 1/16-mile test for older horses as a prep race for a defense of his Dubai World Cup (G1) victory.

A year ago, Hit Show opened the season with a clear victory in the Louisiana Stakes (G3), then finished third in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) in March before rallying past seven rivals to secure an upset victory in the $12 million Dubai World Cup in April. He finished 2025 with a seasonal record of 4-1-1 from eight starts and earnings of $7,596,255.

While Hit Show is scheduled to receive only one prep ahead of this year's Dubai World Cup on March 28 at Meydan, the late-running son of Candy Ride   will return to the familiar ground of the Fair Grounds.

A flashy gray and/or roan, Hit Show is scheduled to start from post 6 in the expected field of seven. The Mineshaft is one of six stakes scheduled for Saturday's card that features the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2).

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In the day's other stakes action for older horses or older fillies and mares:

• One race after the Mineshaft, trainer Cherie DeVaux will try to win the $175,000 Fair Grounds Stakes (G3T) for a third year in a row when she sends out grade 2 winner Brilliant Berti  for his 5-year-old season debut.

  Brilliant Berti, by Noble Mission , won last year's Wise Dan Stakes (G2T) at Churchill Downs and closed the year with a third-place finish in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. A homebred for Klein Racing, Brilliant Berti will have the services of jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. in the 1 1/8-mile turf test for older horses that is scheduled to include Kupuna  and Lagynos —the 1-2 finishers in the Colonel E. R. Bradley Stakes Jan. 17 on this course.

  DeVaux captured last year's Fair Grounds with Taking Candy and the 2024 edition with Beatbox .

• The day's stakes action will begin with third race on the card, the Colonel Power Stakes, featuring older horses sprinting on the turf. BG Stables and Selman Shaby's Usually Wrong  is the 6-5 favorite after reaching the wire first in six of his past seven starts, although he was disqualified to second for interference in a December allowance race at Fair Grounds.

• Older fillies and mares will be featured in the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Medoro , a grade 3 winner who drew inside, is the 9-5 favorite off her victory in the Marie G. Krantz Memorial Stakes on this course in January.