Fair Grounds Releases Nominees for Road to the Derby Kickoff Day’s Eight-Stakes Extravaganza

By Kevin Kilroy —-

Fair Grounds Releases Nominees for Road to the Derby Kickoff Day’s Eight-Stakes Extravaganza

New Orleans, La (Dec. 10, 2024) – Nominations for the eight scheduled stakes on Road to the Derby Kickoff Day at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots have been released. The headline races of the Saturday Dec. 21 program include the 4th running of the $100,000 Gun Runner and the $100,000 Untapable Stakes for fillies. Both stakes award 10-5-3-2-1 points as the final 2-year-old Kentucky Derby and Oaks prep races of the calendar year.

Post positions for the Dec. 21 card, which also includes the Sugar Bowl, Letellier, Tenacious, Richard R. Scherer Memorial, Blushing KD, and Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes, will be drawn on Saturday, Dec. 14. First post is scheduled for noon CT.

The Gun Runner received 21 nominations, led by Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Magnitude. The two-time winner who broke his maiden at Ellis Park passed the two-turn test in his first try, winning an allowance in mid-November at Churchill Downs. The Not This Time colt is trained by Steve Asmussen, who has won this event twice, including the inaugural edition with Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Epicenter. Kentucky Derby 148 winner Rich Strike ran 5th behind Epicenter in the 2021 edition.

Trainer Brad Cox nominated four to the Gun Runner, led by Albaugh Family Stables’ Admiral Dennis and Gary and Mary West’s Hot Property. Admiral Dennis broke his maiden at second asking, going one mile at Churchill Downs in mid-November. Hot Property debuted earlier in the meet, successfully leading at every call of the 1 1/16 miles dirt route. Cox teamed up with Albaugh Family Stables, partial owners of Jace’s Road, to win the Gun Runner in 2022.

Run over 1 1/16 miles, the Gun Runner is named for the local winner of the 2016 Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. All three winners of the Derby prep have made it to the Kentucky Derby starting gates.

Nominations for the 1 mile 70 yards Untapable amounted to 17, including Green Lantern Stables’ Amarth and Gary and Mary West’s California Sunset. Trained by Eddie Kenneally, Amarth has won her last two, beginning with a sprint at Keeneland in October followed up by scoring in her 1 1/16 miles distance test at Churchill Downs. Brad Cox added blinkers for California Sunset’s second outing, a maiden breaking score at Churchill Downs in her first try at two turns. Cox saddled the 2023 Untapable winner, Alpine Princess.

Both Amarth and California Sunset breezed locally last weekend.

Pretty Mischievous won the Untapable for Godolphin and Brendan Walsh in 2022 ahead of winning Kentucky Oaks 149.

Brad Cox leads all trainers with three nominations to the 60th running of the $100,000 Tenacious Stakes, written for older horses going 1 1/16 miles. FMQ Stables Louisiana (G3) winner Saudi Crown, Godolphin’s Kinetic, a progressive winner of three in a row, and Evan Ferraro and Stephen Ferraro’s 2023 Street Sense (G3) champion Liberal Arts each put in drills last weekend at Fair Grounds.

L and N Racing, Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom, and Breeze Easy’s Track Phantom, was nominated to the Tenacious by Steve Asmussen. The reigning Gun Runner title holder ran second on Nov. 17, going 7 furlongs at Churchill Downs in his first start since Kentucky Derby 150.

Exiting the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1), Sonata Stable’s Arzak is one of 26 older horses nominated to the $100,000 Richard R. Scherer Memorial, a 5 1/2 furlongs turf sprint. The 3-time graded stakes winner is trained by Mike Trombetta.

The 19th running of the $100,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes saw 22 older males nominated for the 1 1/16 miles turf route. Team Block’s graded stakes winner Another Mystery was put forward by trainer Chris Block. In 2024, the 8-year-old has racked up three more added money titles to his resume, for a total of seven stakes wins, including the local Bob Wright Memorial in 2021.

The $100,000 Blushing KD Stakes, the female counterpart to the Diliberto, attracted 17 nominees, led by last year’s winner Gentry Farms’ Lovely Princess, who boasts $417,045 in lifetime earnings for trainer Ken McPeek.

The 75th running of the $100,000 Sugar Bowl, a 6-furlong sprint for juveniles, saw 14 nominated, including two owned by Valene Farms and trained by Dallas Stewart: Smoken Wicked and Dapper Moon.

Thirteen were nominated to the $100,000 Letellier Memorial Stakes, the female counterpart to the Sugar Bowl, including two owned by Grantley Acres for trainer Whit Beckman: Her Laugh and Simply Joking.

The list of nominees and the past performances for all eight stakes to be run at Fair Grounds on Saturday, Dec. 21 can be found here: https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaSNHW.cfm?trk=FG.

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About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, La, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 15 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 153rd Thoroughbred Racing Season–highlighted by the 112th running of the Louisiana Derby–will run from Nov. 22, 2024 through March 23, 2025. More information is available online at www.fgno.com.