Fair Grounds Notes: Horses From Maryland Are Clear To Enter Fair Grounds Backside

By Ryan Martin —-

HORSES FROM MARYLAND ARE CLEAR TO ENTER FAIR GROUNDS BACKSIDE

NEW ORLEANS (January 25, 2018) – Following negative tests for equine herpes virus-1 involving a horse based at Laurel Park, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots have announced that, as of Thursday, January 25, all horses based in the state of Maryland are all clear to enter the backside. Meanwhile, those that are based in New York are still disallowed to enter the premises until further notice.

Barn Notes, Jan. 25th

CALHOUN EXPRESSES EXCITEMENT ABOUT SILVER DUST

Trainer Bret Calhoun can’t help but speak volumes of Silver Dust, who will be making his first start under the trainer’s care in Saturday’s eighth race, a mile-and-70-yard allowance event on the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots main track.

“We’re very excited about the future for him,” Calhoun said. “We think he could be a nice horse in the older horse division. I think he’s a natural two-turn horse and I think he’ll run a big race, he trained very, very well coming into it.”

Owned by Tom R. Durant, the 4-year-old son of leading North American sire Tapit was a $510,000 purchase at the OBS March Sale in 2016. Last year, he competed on the Road To The Kentucky Derby’s three qualifying races at Oaklawn Park for previous conditioner Randy Morse. He will enter Saturday’s outing coming off of a five-month layoff and last ran in the Gr. III West Virginia Derby on Aug. 5, where he finished fifth beaten nine lengths behind Colonelsdarktemper.

“Paranoid horse trainers, we never think that we have them ready off the layoff,” Calhoun said. “But he is pretty ready and he’s also very talented so hopefully his talent will carry me a little bit.”

Silver Dust’s lone victory was a Churchill Downs maiden win at second asking, where he defeated Senior Investment, third-place finisher of last year’s Gr. I Preakness Stakes. He was guided by Corey Lanerie who will return to the saddle for Saturday’s race.

THOMAS SENDS DELICATE LADY TO THE FAIR GROUNDS

Trainer Jonathan Thomas was searching far and wide to find the right spot for Delicate Lady and believes that Friday’s fourth race, an allowance event going 5 ½ furlongs over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course, is just that.

The Illinois-bred 5-year-old daughter of Thunder Gulch ran four times last year, two of which were narrow runner-up efforts going five furlongs on the grass against allowance company at Tampa Bay Downs at Gulfstream Park. Thomas believes that the extra half of a furlong could make all the difference for his horse.

“We’ve literally traveled 900 miles for a sixteenth of a mile,” Thomas said. “Mainly, her sweet spot for us is the five-and-a-half to six-furlong range. We had a few near misses at five furlongs and when they hit the wire she was always the one who galloped out the best. Also, the turf course out there is lovely.”

Delicate Lady kicked off her racing career as a 2-year-old with an empathic 6¼ length victory over the synthetic surface at Arlington Park for trainer Carlos Silva. She then transferred to the barn of Todd Pletcher, who Thomas previously worked for as an assistant, where she acquired black type by finishing third in Saratoga’s Gr. II Adirondack. She remained under Pletcher’s care throughout her two and 3-year-old campaigns before moving to the barn of her current conditioner.

Delicate Lady, who will be Thomas’s first starter at the Fair Grounds, has not run since a fourth-place finish in the Richie Scherer Memorial over Arlington Park’s Polytrack. Thomas made an equipment change with Delicate Lady, who will be wearing blinkers for Friday’s event.

“We felt that she was getting a little detached,” Thomas said. “I suppose if she can keep closer contact to the pace without getting too involved it might help us. Some of her losses have only been a matter of inches.”

Joe Bravo will be aboard Delicate Lady who breaks from the rail for Friday’s event.