“Louisiana Derby Preview Day” Nominations See Coal Battle Considered for Risen Star

By Kevin Kilroy —-

Simply Joking; Hodges Photgraphy
“Louisiana Derby Preview Day” Nominations See Coal Battle Considered for Risen Star

Lonnie Briley talks Coal Battle

Simply Joking most likely of Beckman’s talented duo to enter Rachel Alexandra

New Orleans, La (Feb. 5, 2025) – Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots has published nominations for the six stakes scheduled to be held on “Louisiana Derby Preview Day,” headlined by the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star (G2) and the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra (G2). Potential newcomers to the local Derby prep series include Norman Stables’ Smarty Jones winner Coal Battle and Team Penney Racing’s Vassimo. In the Rachel, two fillies with graded stakes titles were nominated in Good Cheer and Muhimma, as was the Silverbulletday victress Simply Joking.

Both the Risen Star and Rachel Alexandra are the first Derby and Oaks prep races on the calendar to award 50-25-15-10-5 points to the top five finishers. “Louisiana Derby Preview Day” will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15 with. First post is noon CT.

An additional nine 3-year-old males were nominated to the 53rd running of the Risen Star, for a total of 82 nominees including those already published during the Early Bird period. The third of four local prep races for the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) stretches out to 1 1/8 miles.

Most interesting of the new names added to the Risen Star list is Norman Stables’ Coal Battle. Trained by Lonnie Briley, Coal Battle has scored top honors in two Derby prep races. Last out in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park, he led them gate-to-wire.

“In the Smarty Jones the fractions were slow and he just took the bit and went to the front,” Briley said. “(Juan) Vargas had his head bowed the whole time. The thing I liked in that race was he finished the last sixteenth in 6.2 seconds. Speed King (winner of the Southwest at Oaklawn) finished going 7 and change. I think I would have won that race pretty handily.”

Together with his win in the Springboard Mile, Coal Battle has racked up 20 Derby qualifying points.

“We came back to the barn (after the Smarty Jones) and he’s bucking and kicking walking down the shedrow to his stall,” Briley said. “Didn’t drink nothing, maybe two glasses of water. Distance doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He might get his ears pulled off in the next race but he’s a neat little horse.”

Along with the Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs, the Coal Front colt has won three consecutive stakes.

“He’s sound–there’s not a pimple on him and he’s a smart little horse,” Briley said. “We’ve been aiming for the Rebel but anything can change. It’s going to be tough everywhere you go. Things have got to go right. We’ve got to face those heavy hitters sooner or later.”

Todd Pletcher put forward Team Penney Racing’s Vassimo. The Nyquist colt is a perfect two-for-two, both at one mile or longer, and his most recent win came in a first-level allowance at Tampa Bay by open lengths.

Nominations for the 45th running of the Rachel Alexandra closed at 19. With 105 qualifying points to the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) on the line, the fillies will be tasked with 1 1/16 miles over the main track.

Top on the list are four undefeated fillies, including Simply Joking and Her Laugh, two Practical Joke fillies trained by Whit Beckman. Both starts for Grantley Acres, Ryan Conner, and Berkels0813’s Simply Joking have been in local stakes. She proved her heart to overcome trouble and win on debut in the Letellier Memorial and backed that up with an impressive gate-to-wire victory in the Silverbulletday. Simply Joking sits in third on the Oaks Leaderboard with 20 points.

Grantley Acres’ Her Laugh took the Untapable in December, earning 10 Oaks points and staying unbeaten in two runs.

“Both of them came out of their last race in great shape,” Beckman said. “I still think we’ve got two very talented fillies here and hopefully we can position them both in a spot to get some more Oaks points. I entered Her Laugh at Tampa in the Suncoast on Saturday. There’s a good shot she will run over there, and Simply Joking, in the Rachel.”

The stablemates breezed together at Fair Grounds last Saturday.

“They went a half mile together,” Beckamn said. “I just wanted something easy from both of them. Her Laugh was on the inside and Simply Joking on the outside. When I set it up like that it seems they do better. I’ve always thought Simply Joking has had the edge in a lot of their works together, but over the last couple of works, Her Laugh has moved just as good as Simply Joking.”

Beckman has one more breeze planned for Simply Joking ahead of her likely start in the Rachel Alexandra.

“On Saturday I’ve got her scheduled to go 5/8ths, probably alone,” Beckman said. “I just don’t want her to do too much in company. She’s pure racehorse and anytime she gets in company she’s very competitive. I’d like her to stay collected and controlled.”

Brad Cox trains the other two Rachel Alexandra nominees who have dazzled in each start, Godolphin’s Good Cheer and Shadwell Stable’s Muhimma. Taking both the Golden Rod (G2) and the Rags to Riches this fall at Churchill Downs, Good Cheer racked up 20 Oaks points and sits tied for third on the leaderboard. Proving her class and stamina going 1 1/8 miles to win the Demoiselles (G2), Muhimma has earned 10 points and is undefeated in three starts.

Past the Risen Star and Rachel Alexandra, the added money action on “Louisiana Derby Preview Day” includes two more graded stakes. The 1 1/16 miles $300,000 Mineshaft presented by Hagyard GI By Relyne (G3) closed with 16 nominations, led by multiple graded stakes winner First Mission. The Cox trainee has not raced since the Whitney Stakes. The $175,000 Fair Grounds Stakes presented by Horse Racing Nation (G3), scheduled for the turf at 1 1/18 miles, could see the return of Brilliant Berti, who last out in October won the Bryan Station (G3) for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

Along with the Fair Grounds Stakes, both the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial and the $100,000 Colonel Power are scheduled to be run on the Stall-Wilson turf course. Written for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles, the Al Stall closed with 34 nominations, led by the classy Argentine import from Ignacio Correas’ barn, Nanda Dea. Eighteen older males were nominated to the 5 1/2-furlong Colonel Powers.

A full list of the “Louisiana Derby Preview Day” nominees can be found on Equibase here: https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaSNHW.cfm?trk=FG.

Entries for the stakes-laden card will be drawn on Saturday, Feb. 8.

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