Fair Grounds Counting Days to Meet Opener
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Live Thoroughbred racing is set to return in New Orleans in just ten days, as Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will open for the start of the 145th Thoroughbred racing season on Saturday, Nov. 19 with a 3 p.m. Twilight first post.
The new racing season provides a backdrop for a competitive season in both the trainer and jockey standings, as longtime Fair Grounds stalwarts will be joined by new faces in both categories.
"We are looking forward to the start of the live racing season at Fair Grounds," said Fair Grounds Senior Director of Racing Jason Boulet. "We are excited to welcome all of new faces on the backstretch and in the jockeys' room to join all of our returning connections for another great season of racing."
Fresh off his first Fair Grounds leading trainer title, earned here last season, Mike Stidham returns with a string that rates similarly to the one with which he captured last season's title. Stidham will be joined again by 13-time Fair Grounds leading trainer Steve Asmussen and 11-time local leader Tom Amoss. Other major returning players on the trainer side include Brad Cox, Joe Sharp, Bret Calhoun, Mike Maker, Dallas Stewart, Al Stall, Jr., Larry Jones and Keith Bourgeois, with Bourgeois bringing a significantly larger string to the backside in New Orleans this winter.
A large number of new players will join the trainer ranks at Fair Grounds this season, led by veteran trainer Mark Casse. Casse is enjoying a banner year in 2016, eclipsing 200 wins for the first time in a calendar year with 211 wins to date and over $16 million in earnings this year, ranking him third in the country in earnings. Casse was most recently in the headlines after a win in the Grade I Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Classic Empire.
Tom Proctor and Ken McPeek will bring runners to the Fair Grounds backstretch this season and will be joined by several new players in New Orleans. Ron Moquett, Jeremiah Englehart, Ingrid Mason, Scott Becker, Brendan Walsh, Gerald Brooks and Tom Morley are among the notable additions in town.
The Fair Grounds jockey colony will again be among the most competitive in the country, headlined by last year's leading rider, Florent Geroux. The native of France is enjoying his best year to date with 185 wins and more than $15 million in earnings, both career highs. Geroux will be joined again by prominent riders from years past in Robby Albarado, Richard Eramia, Brian Hernandez, Jr., Miguel Mena, Francisco Torres, Colby Hernandez, Mitchell Murrill and James Graham.
Deshawn Parker, a winner of more than 5,000 career races, will make Fair Grounds his winter home for the first time this season. David Flores returns to New Orleans along with Gabriel Saez, who wintered on Gentilly in years past. Other notable full-time additions include C. J. McMahon and Sophie Doyle.