The Player Sharp in Mineshaft Handicap Win

Bouncing back from his last two off-the-board efforts, The Player made his 4 1/4-length win look easy Feb. 17 in the $150,000 Mineshaft Handicap (G3), when he lead at every call in the 1 1/16-mile event at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

The win was the second graded stakes score for the Buff Bradley-trained, 5-year-old son of Street Hero, who benefitted from the addition of blinkers Saturday. His first graded win came in the Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland in October. Bradley is also the co-owner and co-breeder of the horse.

"Going down the backside, Calvin (Borel) had that nice hold on him and he was just so relaxed and running easily," Bradley said. "He said 'He needs to know when those horses are coming to him' and said that he was quite a bit more focused today. And I think just watching, I thought that the horses were going to come to him but Calvin never even asked until the eighth pole. When Calvin was looking around at the quarter pole I said, 'They're not going to catch them today.'"

The trainer added that The Player will be pointed to the March 24 New Orleans Handicap (G2). 

In the Mineshaft Handicap, The Player battled with First Premio for the lead going into the first turn. With Hall of Fame rider Calvin Borel aboard, The Player assumed control and took the field of seven through fractions of :24.27 and :47.98 for the first half-mile, and managed to open up on his competition by 2 1/2 lengths. 

Continuing that momentum, the leader moved through six furlongs in 1:12.13 and opened up three lengths on his rivals in the stretch. First Premio, who chased in second the entire way, Thirstforlife, and Scuba, all ran after The Player but there was no catching him. The chestnut runner completed the distance in a final time of 1:42.29, just shy of the track record of 1:42.02.

Thirstforlife secured second by a nose over Scuba, with First Premio another head back in fourth. Rich Daddy, Team Colors, and No Distortion completed the order of finish. Morning-line favorite Cedartown was scratched. 

"I wasn't happy with the way that he was doing coming out of the last breeze and we wanted him to be 100%," trainer Michael Stidham said of Cedartown. 

Off as the favorite, The Player returned $4.20, $2.80, and $2.20 across the board. 

The Player entered the Mineshaft off a fourth-place run in the 1 1/16-mile Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds Jan. 13 to open his 2018 season. He closed out 2017 with a fifth-place effort in the Clark Handicap presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) in November at Churchill Downs, where he was bothered in the stretch. He's also picked up two other graded placings in the 2017 Ack Ack Stakes (G3) and the 2016 Indiana Derby (G2). 

Bred by Bradley, Fred Bradley, and co-owner Carl Hurst, The Player is out of the winning Gilded Time mare Hour Queen. From 13 starts he has a 5-3-1 record and earnings of $452,485.