YOCKEY’S WARRIOR AND CHUBLICIOUS TOP THANKSGIVING HANDICAP

By Brian W. Spencer —-

Thursday’s 93rd running of the $75,000 Thanksgiving Handicap features a well-balanced septet of sprinters looking to feast on the first open stakes of Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots’ 2017-18 meet. Over six furlongs on the main track, the 3-year-olds and upward event has been won by such speedy standouts as Posse, Delaunay and Colonel Power.

Defending champion Yockey’s Warrior will seek a second helping when the Al Stall Jr. trainee breaks from post four. Owned by Stall, Stewart Madison, et al., the son of Warrior’s Reward has raced only three times since his powerful 2¼-length 2017 triumph and returned from a six-month break to take a 6½-furlong Keeneland allowance last out on Oct. 22. The dark bay horse will be ridden by Miguel Mena, with whom he has teamed to win four of his past five races.

Aspiring to maintain his positive trajectory in the Thanksgiving and win his 10th six-furlong race will be the Chublicious, who breaks from post two under Jose Valdivia Jr. The New Jersey-bred 6-year-old exits the biggest win of his career when out-willing multiple graded stakes winner Whitmore in Laurel Park’s Grade III DeFrancis Memorial Dash on Sept. 16. Recently acquired by Evelyn Benoit’s Brittlyn Stable, the 10-of-23 charge makes his first start for trainer Ron Faucheux and looks to add to a 2017 resume that also includes a state-bred stakes victory at Monmouth in July and a solid second to subsequent Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up Imperial Hint in stakes company in January.

The most intriguing past performances in the race arguably belong to Harold Lerner’s The Truth Or Else, who exits a respectable fourth-place finish in the Group I Korea Sprint in Seoul on Sept. 10. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the 5-year-old has held his own against some of the top sprinters on this continent, as well, including a pair of on-the-board finishes in stakes company behind Limousine Liberal this summer at Churchill Downs. Jack Gilligan takes the reins of the son of Yes It’s True for the first time with hopes of returning the chestnut charge to the form that saw him powerfully take Gulfstream Park’s Sir Shackleton Stakes in April. They break from post five.

Graded stakes-placed Wyeth makes his first start off the claim for trainer Joe Sharp. The former Tom Amoss trainee has proven admirably versatile in 2017, placing in the Grade III Hanshin Cup over a one-turn Polytrack mile and winning a local turf sprint. Originally a $300,000 Keeneland September 2014 purchase, the 4-year-old will look to regain some luster with first-time blinkers and a return to the last distance over which he was successful when winning a muddy Keeneland allowance in April. Journeyman Joe Bravo, new to the Fair Grounds jockey colony, picks up the ride from post six.

Wes Hawley-owned and -trained Mesoma comes out of a career-best effort when running away from a second-level allowance group at Churchill Downs on Sept. 24. The 6-year-old picks up Francisco Torres from post three.

The Thanksgiving field is completed by Haran Thoroughbreds’ John Haran-trained Charming Deputy (Mitchell Murrill, rail) and another last-out Sharp claim, Brad Grady’s Blue Wings (Adam Beschizza, post seven).

About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the nation’s third-oldest racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, LA, Fair Grounds is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN); it also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 11 off-track betting parlors throughout southeast Louisiana. The 146th Thoroughbred Racing Season – highlighted by the 105th running of the Louisiana Derby – will run from November 18, 2017 through March 31, 2018. More information can be found online at www.FairGroundsRaceCourse.com.