Smoken Wicked, Secret Faith Return on Short Rest to Headline Sunday’s Pair of Louisiana Futurities

By Joe Kristufek —-
Smoken Wicked‘ Hodges
Smoken Wicked, Secret Faith Return on Short Rest to Headline Sunday’s Pair of Louisiana Futurities
New Orleans, La (Dec. 27, 2024)

– Two editions of the $100,000 Louisiana Futurity, one for the colts and one for the fillies, headline Sunday’s eight-race card at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Both races for 2-year-olds will be contested over six furlongs on the main track.
A field of six has been programmed for male division, which is carded as race six. Off a solid victory in the Louisiana Juvenile just 15 days prior, Valene Farms’ Smoken Wicked, who rewarded trainer Dallas Stewart with his 1,000th career win, has been tabbed as the overwhelming 3-5 favorite by morning-line odds maker Mike Diliberto. Colby Hernandez gets the return call aboard the speedy son of Bobby’s Wicked One (post 4), who earlier in the year finished third in the Saratoga Special (G2) in New York.
The three-four finishers from the Juvenile – Tdz Hint of Power (9-2) and Voila Magic (3-1) – will also return on Sunday, and the latter will add blinkers for trainer Steve Asmussen.
In race eight, the female edition of the Futurity, Norman Stables Secret Faith will be out to avenge her only loss, and she’s the 2-5 favorite to do so versus seven rivals. Trained by Jade Gelner, the daughter of Aurelius Maximus won the first five starts of her career, including stakes at four different venues, including here at Fair Grounds when she took down the Donovan L. Ferguson Memorial by six lengths on November 23. Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the Louisiana Lassie three weeks later on Champions Day, Secret Faith ranged up to the second choice Blue Fire while still in hand late on the far turn. It appeared as though she was going to roll right by, but instead she was defeated by a head by that game rival with leading rider Jose Ortiz astride. From post 7, Florent Geroux will pilot Secret Faith for the first time.
With Blue Fire not entered back by trainer Steve Asmussen, Ortiz will now pilot Mischief Princess (post 1 at 4-1) for the same trainer. When last seen, the daughter of Instagrand set the pace in the Ferguson Memorial before fading to third behind Secret Faith.
The fields for both the Woodchopper and the Pago Hop can be found on Equibase here: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/RaceCardIndexFG122924USA-EQB.html. First post on Saturday is 12:45 p.m. CT.
In celebration of the New Year, Fair Grounds will conduct a live racing card on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. The nine-race card will commence at the regular post time of12:45 p.m. CT.

-30-
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.