Fair Grounds: Promising 3-Year-Old Curlin’s Honor Possible for Grade II Rebel At Oaklawn Park

By Ryan Martin —-

Curlin’s Honor, Hodges Photography

PROMISING 3-YEAR-OLD CURLIN’S HONOR POSSIBLE FOR GRADE II REBEL AT OAKLAWN PARK

Following an impressive allowance victory at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Sunday afternoon, John C. Oxley and Breeze Easy LLC’s promising 3-year-old Curlin’s Honor could go for points on Churchill Downs’ Road To The Kentucky Derby next out in the Grade II $900,000 Rebel Stakes (50-20-10-5) at Oaklawn Park on Mar. 17.

Trained by Mark Casse, the Florida-bred son of Curlin did not get the easiest of trips in his sophomore debut on Sunday. At the top of the stretch, he was trapped behind a wall of horses and was forced to angle wide, but eventually was able to get the job done and won by a neck under Corey Lanerie. He had not run since breaking his maiden first time out last fall at Keeneland, where he defeated two-time winner Fascilitator.

“There’s a chance we may go to the Rebel,” assistant trainer David Carroll said. “It’s not etched in stone just yet, but he came out of the race very well. Mark and Breeze Easy and the team will decide.”

Curlin’s Honor was originally purchased as a yearling for $475,000 from the Fasig-Tipton July sale in 2016 and was pinhooked in last year’s Fasig-Tipton Mid Atlantic Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale, where Oxley and Breeze Easy bought him for a lucrative $1.5 million. His dam, Franscat, has produced seven other offspring, all of which found the winner’s circle.

“He’s a nice horse and we were looking to get started (Sunday),” Carroll said. “We’ll get him going around two turns now and see where he takes us, but he’s a beautiful horse, he’s great to be around and we’re happy for the connections. Hopefully we’ll have a big year with him.”

FOLEY LOOKING AT KEENELAND’S GR. III TRANSYLVANIA WITH TIGERS RULE

One race after Curlin’s Honor made a successful seasonal bow, 3-year-old Tigers Rule did the same in a mile-and-a-sixteenth allowance event over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course. Owned by trainer Vickie Foley in partnership with Secure Investments, the son of Kitten’s Joy could see stakes action next time out on Opening Day of Keeneland’s Spring Meet in the Gr. III $150,000 Transylvania Stakes.

Sunday’s triumph was the first start for Tigers Rule since the Gr. III Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland, where he finished second but was disqualified to third. He broke his maiden second time out in September at Kentucky Downs.

“This horse is a good horse,” Foley said “We had some bad luck at Keeneland when we got disqualified, got beat a nose for all of it and that was in the slop. This horse is very versatile. If the race would’ve come off the turf we were going to run anyway. I think we got a good horse and we have some good races coming our way.”

GRANDE BASIN CUTS BACK IN DISTANCE IN SATURDAY’S DIXIE POKER ACE

William J. Deckwa Jr. and John Carbo’s Grande Basin has been knocking on the door in some of his previous efforts but has the chance to prove himself when he shortens up to one mile in Saturday’s $60,000 Dixie Poker Ace, run on the Stall-Wilson Turf Course for Louisiana-breds.

Trained by Eddie Johnston, the 6-year-old son of Good and Tough will look for his first victory since winning last year’s mile-and-a-sixteenth Star Guitar Stakes by three-quarters of a length over fellow Dixie Poker Ace entrant Mageez.

“He loves the Fair Grounds, whenever we leave here he gets mad at us,” Johnston laughed. “The further in distance the better he gets, but he’ll show up. If it was a mile-and-a-sixteenth, it would really be nice, but he’s doing real well. He’ll run his race.”

Last out Grande Basin was a distant fourth behind Louisiana legend Mobile Bay in last month’s Louisiana Premier Night Championship Stakes at Delta Downs. Earlier in the Winter Meet, he was beaten only a nose behind Mobile Bay in the Louisiana Champions Day Classic Stakes in December.

“That was a mile and an eighth,” Johnston said his Champions’ Day effort. “We’d like to run a mile and an eighth every time because he has a lot of stamina. When you shorten up to mile it’s a disadvantage because he gets started late.”

Miguel Mena has piloted Grande Basin on numerous occasions and will ride the horse once more when he breaks from post eight at morning line odds of 6-1.

GIRVIN REJOINS JOE SHARP BARN

Brad Grady’s Girvin, winner of last year’s Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby (both Gr. II events) returned to trainer Joe Sharp’s barn at the Fair Grounds following a winter spent at Grand Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla., where he logged two breezes.

The 4-year-old son of Tale of Ekati shipped to the Sharp barn early Wednesday morning from Ocala and will resume training at the Fair Grounds. Sharp indicated that he would likely be at least 60 days before Girvin makes his 2018 debut.

Girvin has not run since the Gr. III Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Sept. 24, where he finished fifth. He gave Sharp his first Grade I victory when he won the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in August.

Photo Courtesy of Hodges Photography