Fair Grounds Barn Notes: Friday, November 17

By Michael Adolphson —-

• Stall Stacked on Opening Day
• Casse Beefing Up Fair Grounds Presence
• Tapwrit Half-Brother Tops Salty Opening Day 2yo Maiden

STALL STACKED ON OPENING DAY

Trainer Al Stall Jr. has arguably the hottest hand of all heading into Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots’ Opening Day card, highlighted by 10 entrants, including runners in three of the four stakes. The member of the Fair Grounds Hall of Fame looks to kick off another solid season, hoping to emulate 2016 in which he won with six of his first 11 starters and won two stakes.

Opening day’s first post is 3:00 p.m. CST, with the Mr. Sulu Stakes, Happy Ticket Stakes, Si Cima Stakes and Heitai Stakes slated as races 3-6.

“We stay in Louisiana during the summer and try to stick close to the Louisiana-bred program so that days like tomorrow can be possible,” Stall said. “I feel good about tomorrow, but I wouldn’t say confident because I’m a horse trainer.”

Two promising sophomores head his stakes chances, topped by talented Happy Ticket runner My Miss Chiff, who makes her first start since a good third in the Grade III Miss Preakness on May 19 for a barn that has struck at 31% this year with long layoff runners. The $110,000 Fasig-Tipton July 2015 purchase has only raced four times, but was dominant breaking her maiden in January and then taking an allowance — both at the Happy Ticket’s six-furlong trip.

Similar is his stablemate Philly, who makes his second start off a layoff from Feb. 11 to Nov. 1 when starting in the six-furlong Heitai. Breaking his maiden nearly a year to the day ago, the son of Louisiana icon Star Guitar won an allowance in January before an off-the-board finish in Delta Downs stakes company. He returned on Nov. 1 to win a muddy five-furlong Delta allowance by a neck in the last jump, despite an awkward trip.

“My Miss Chiff should be fine in the Happy Ticket,” Stall said. “She’s a 3-year-old who’s won a couple races and faced some tough fillies, so we gave her the summer off and she responded well to that.
She’s a big strong filly now and is training nice and fresh. This is what we have been pointing to for her; to run in races like this. I’ve scratched Million Dollar Day from the race.

“Last time Philly just gawked the whole time and still won,” Stall continued. “He was kind of lost out there at Delta and outclassed them. If that race helped him, another race will hopefully do the same, so we are stepping him up into the (Heitai).”

Stall also has a pair of 2-year-old fillies on whom he is high in the day’s ninth race, a Louisiana-bred non-winners of two allowance.

“Andthebandplayedon could be a very good horse. She has talent and we hope she’ll run well,” Stall said. “Feisty Embrace is doing well and fits.”

Another he is high on is Minit to Stardom in the day’s seventh race, a 5½-furlong statebred maiden special for juvenile fillies, who has been working sharply in the mornings. Starlet Guitar is an also-eligible in the same heat. Divine Bean and Future Ruler appear to be serious players in the male equivalent, race 8. Stall reported that he is likely to scratch Smiley Briley from the Si Cima Stakes.

CASSE BEEFING UP FAIR GROUNDS PRESENCE

After an excellent Fair Grounds season in 2016-17, nationally prominent trainer Mark Casse will have a serious presence at the meet as it kicks off on Saturday, Nov. 18. The multiple Breeders’ Cup-winning conditioner will once again have assistant trainer David Carroll manning his string in New Orleans.
The headliner of the local string is Debby Oxley’s Heavenly Love, who was unplaced last out in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Prior to said event, in which she broke from the rail, she was a romping winner of the Grade I Alcibiades at Keeneland. The daughter of Malibu Moon will point toward the 3-year-old filly series that kicks off in January with the Silverbulletday Stakes.

“We have 36 horses there and I think we’re going to use Fair Grounds in a big way,” Casse said. “We have some very nice horses heading there for the winter. Heavenly Love will head there pretty soon. Valadorna is already there and we’ll look for an allowance or something with her.”

TAPWRIT HALF-BROTHER TOPS SALTY OPENING DAY 2YO MAIDEN

The most intriguing undercard race of the opening day card at Fair Grounds is easily race 2, an open 2-year-old mile and 70-yard maiden topped by Ride a Comet, a Candy Ride (Arg) half-brother to 2017 Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit. Trained by Mark Casse and owned by John C. Oxley and My Meadowview Farm, the son of Candy Ride will be making his third career start and second around two turns. He has been seventh in both his tries, but showed market improvement from his first to second tries. Gabriel Saez rides from post six.

“I’m expecting big things with him,” Casse said. “He has a lot of talent and has a great pedigree. He made a really nice middle move last time at Churchill. I think he should improve.”

The $375,000 OBS April purchase’s toughest competition could come from the always-dangerous barn of Mike Stidham, which sends out a pair of live juveniles. Small Batch Thoroughbreds’ Pucon makes his second start after an eye-catching debut at Delaware, in which he closed from seven lengths back to lose by three-quarters of a length in second going six furlongs. The son of Paynter stretches out and picks up Michell Murrill from post seven.

Stidham also sends out a good-looking son of Super Saver named Cutter Helm for his debut. A long-striding type, he was a $150,000 Keeneland September 2016 purchase for owner OXO Equine and has been working well, including a 1:02 flat local gate move on Nov. 11. Jack Gilligan rides from post four.

“Pucon has some talent and at Delaware first time out he ran well and actually ran a little better than expectations,” Stidham said. “He’s continued to train well since that race and we look for a move forward again. He’s a distance-looking horse and is doing well and shipped well coming down here from Fair Hill. He’s narrow and leggy, but not a heavy horse, and should take well to two turns.

“Cutter Helm is one that impresses you as a true two-turn horse,” Stidham continued. “He’s big and tall and in the morning has shown us some decent ability. He’s not strikingly quick, but he keeps coming and gallops out strong.”

Others worth watching are Midwest Thoroughbreds’ Much Trouble, a promising son of top sire Into Mischief who makes his third start for Tom Amoss from post nine with Miguel Mena, DARRS Inc.’s Shiitake, a son of Uncle Mo who has every right to improve upon a no-show performance first out at Churchill Downs on Oct. 1 for Brendan Walsh, and Whispering Oaks Farm’s Simba’s Pride, a well-bred son of Animal Kingdom who has been working extremely well at Evangeline for trainer Steve Flint. James Graham has the call from post two on Shiitake and defending champion jockey Florent Geroux rides Simba’s Pride from the three-hole.