Fair Grounds: Stakes Advances: Louisiana Futurity Fillies & Colts/Geldings Divisions

By Ryan Martin —-

MINIT TO STARDOM FACES IMPRESSIVE MAIDEN VICTOR CHAMPAGNE DIVA IN LOUISIANA FUTURITY FILLIES DIVISION; GIVEMEAMINIT GOES FOR FIRST CAREER WIN IN COLTS AND GELDINGS DIVISION

NEW ORLEANS (December 29, 2017) – On New Year’s Eve, Louisiana-bred 2-year-old colts and fillies will square off in their respective divisions of the Louisiana Futurity, both of which are run on the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots main track at a distance of six furlongs.

In the first of the two races, a field of seven Louisiana-bred fillies will assemble in their division of the Louisiana Futurity, which carries a purse of $96,430. Heading the field is Brittlyn Stable Inc.’s Minit To Stardom, who will break from the rail under Corey Lanerie and is slated as the 6-5 morning line favorite by Fair Grounds clocker and odds maker Mike Diliberto. The daughter of Star Guitar boats two emphatic victories over the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots main track for trainer Al Stall, Jr. On Opening Day, Minit To Stardom broke her maiden by 5¼ lengths before a 7¼-length victory in the Louisiana Champions Day Lassie on Dec. 9.

“She’s a nice tall filly that shows a lot more speed than you would think by looking at her,” Stall said. “Star Guitar has put out babies that show speed, distance capabilities, turf capabilities so he’s obviously very versatile and she’s a textbook example of that. She’s very similar to Star Guitar. She’s got a good mind to her and a good size to her. It’s interesting that they all come in different packages because I’ve seen the mothers and I’ve seen how much nicer some of the foals are than the mothers so he’s kind of moved his mares up.”

Stall will also send out Feisty Embrace, who also is owned by Brittlyn Stable Inc. and breaks from post seven under Shaun Bridgmohan. While not quite as accomplished as her stable mate, the daughter of Brethren has never finished off the board in four starts. Last time out she defeated fellow Stall trainee Andthebandplayedon in a state bred allowance race on Opening Day.

Minit To Stardom’s biggest threat to maintaining an undefeated record will likely come from Diamond Racing Inc., J. Jansenn, P. and N. Camodeca’s Chamapagne Diva. Trained by Leo Gabriel, Jr., the daughter of Tale of the Cat broke her maiden at first asking on Dec. 9, where she defeated fellow state-breds in wire-to-wire fashion by 4¾ lengths.

“That maiden race was one of those where everybody in there loved their horse,” Gabriel said. “Al Stall loved his, Dallas Stewart loved his, (Steve) Asmussen loved his and Wesley Hawley loves them all. We were always pretty high on her from the beginning. We thought she could run and she proved us right, you never know until they run. She came out of the race well and breezed well in between so we’re looking forward to a good run. If she moves forward I think that we got a pretty good chance.”

Jockey Chantal Sutherland was aboard for her impressive career debut and will retain the mount on Champagne Diva when she breaks from post five.

Rounding out the field are Iona Star (post two, Diego Saenz, 9-2), Girls Life (post 3, Ashley Broussard, 20-1), Cool Spring (post four, Jose Valdivia, Jr., 20-1), and Bionic Butterfly (post six, Florent Geroux, 15-1).

Four races later, a dozen colts and geldings will face off in their division of the Louisiana Futurity which carries a purse of $104,930.

Heading the event is Valene Farms’ Givemeaminit, who is the lukewarm 3-1 morning line favorite. While the graded stakes-placed son of Star Guitar is still a maiden, he has faced some tough company in his five-race career. Following his career debut in a maiden race at Saratoga where he was second behind Sporting Chance, trainer Dallas Stewart took a shot at the Grade I Hopeful Stakes where he was third beaten a neck behind Sporting Chance once more. Since then, the rest of his starts have taken place around two turns against graded stakes company. He was fifth behind Free Drop Billy in the Gr. I Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 6 and then shipped out to Del Mar for the Gr. I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile where he was a distant fourth behind Good Magic. In his most recent outing, Givemeaminit was eighth in Churchill Downs’ Gr. II Kentucky Jockey Club which was won by Enticed.

“He’s been training great,” Stewart said. “We gave him a couple of breezes just to sharpen him up a little bit. He’s healthy and we’re looking forward to run. He ran hard all year and I think that this spot fits him real well. It’s shorter in distance and he’s run well short. We’ll just progress on from there. The goal is the (Gr. II $1 million) Louisiana Derby (on Mar. 24) so how do we get there? We’ll figure it out as we go.”

If Givemeaminit wants to score the first victory of his career, he’ll have to face Klein Racing’s Gladyousawme who is an undefeated 3-for-3. Brad Cox trains the son of Due Date, who defeated open company in his career debut over the Indiana Grand turf course in September. Cox then sent him to Delta Downs where he defeated state-breds in a seven-furlong allowance race before a 1½-length triumph in the Louisiana Legacy Stakes over the Vinton, La. oval on Nov. 18. Corey Lanerie has the mount aboard Gladyousawme, who breaks from the two-hole.

The remainder of the field for the colts and geldings division of the Louisiana Futurity is composed of Prayer Boy (post one, Steve Bourque, 20-1), My First Guitar (post three, Chantal Sutherland, 50-1), Greeley Went West (post four, James Graham, 9-2), Pound For Pound (post five, Miguel Mena, 8-1), Calimor (post six, Mitchell Murrill, 30-1), Divine Bean (post eight, Jose Valdivia, Jr., 9-2), Da’ Big Newt (post nine, Diego Saenz, 15-1), Monsieur Brown (post ten, Ashley Broussard, 20-1), Vapor Viper (post 11, Robby Albarado, 30-1), and Ready Prospector (post 12, Gerard Melancon, 8-1).

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.