Fair Grounds Barn Notes: Thursday, March 15

By Ryan Martin —-

* Leading Rider Mena, Veteran Clark Injured in 8th Race Spill
* Desormeaux Hoping For First Louisiana Derby Win With My Boy Jack
• Forever Unbridled Drills Five Furlongs In Final Local Move For Dubai World Cup

DESORMEAUX HOPING FOR FIRST LOUISIANA DERBY WIN WITH MY BOY JACK

Every trainer has aspirations of winning the Kentucky Derby, but for trainer and Maurice, La. native Keith Desormeaux, the Gr. II Louisiana Derby Presented by TwinSpires.com is a close second.

Owned by Don’t Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables LLC, My Boy Jack will look to fulfill such aspirations for Desormeaux, when he ships to the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots for next Saturday’s event, which carries a purse of $1 million in addition to 170 qualifying points toward the Gr. I $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 5. The son of Creative Cause is currently No. 18 on the Leaderboard with 12 points, where he earned ten points from a victory in last month’s Gr. III Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park and two when finishing third behind McKinzie in the Gr. III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

“As soon as he crossed the wire in Arkansas, we started thinking about our next move,” Desormeaux said. “When you win over a track, it makes sense to run right back there, but (part-owner) Sol Kumin brought up a good point. The Rebel is not an equal weights race, so off a graded stakes win, we would be at an immediate disadvantage. The Louisiana Derby is equal weights and there are twice as many points offered. It gives us an extra week, one million is a monster pot, and if we are forced to scratch or have an unlucky trip, there is time to get into another prep race and still make the Kentucky Derby.

“I live in California, but I’m 100% Louisiana-bred,” Desormeaux continued. “I look for any good reason to come home, but that has no bearing on our racing decisions. Last year was my first time running in the Louisiana Derby, and we ran fifth with a (37-1) longshot Sorry Erik. We’ve had a nice run of success the last couple of years. It has been very rewarding for me and my family, anything that happens from this point forward is welcomed with appreciation and gratitude. A lot of hard work has gotten me here, and I just want to enjoy it.”

Desormeaux ran My Boy Jack on the turf in all but one of his starts as a 2-year-old. He broke his maiden in the Zuma Beach Stakes over the lawn at Santa Anita before a seventh-place finish in the Gr. I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November.

“Running him around two turns was a priority and those races are offered on turf early on,” Desormeaux said. “The number one quality for a turf horse is pedigree, but this horse is by
Creative Cause out of a Mineshaft mare (Gold N Shaft), which is dirt. The first race of his career was a sprint on dirt. We’ve watched him train on dirt, and knew he had no problem handling it. We contemplated cross entering him in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but in discussing it with the owners, we decided to keep him on turf because he had excelled over it, and make the surface switch later.”

Desormeaux scored his first graded stakes victory as a trainer five years ago when 135-1 long shot Ive Struck A Nerve won the Gr. II Risen Star Stakes in 2013. His best Kentucky Derby finish came in 2016 with a runner-up effort from Exaggerator, who went on to win that year’s Gr. I Preakness Stakes.

“(2014 Gr. I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner) Texas Red may have been a $17,000 yearling, but he was a phenomenal specimen, as were (Grade I winner) Decked Out and Exaggerator,” Desormeaux said. “(My Boy) Jack is an overachiever. He’s nicely built, but a little lighter and smaller than most of my better horses. He’s athletic enough, but he has the most important quality of all, and that’s a big heart. That’s the x-factor.”

His most recent breeze was a five furlong work at Santa Anita on Mar. 10, where he went 1:01.60 in what Desormeaux referred to as a “wow move”.

“When (brother and Hall of Fame jockey) Kent (Desormeaux) asked him for just a little bit, he exploded for a sixteenth of a mile,” Desormeaux said. “Then Kent wrapped up on him. When Kent does that, he’s telling me that the horse is doing enough and that he’s on point.”

My Boy Jack is scheduled to ship to the Fair Grounds either Monday, Mar. 19 or the following Wednesday.

“I have a ton of respect for the local horsemen at the Fair Grounds and I can’t wait to see everybody,” Desormeaux said. “The Louisiana Derby is going to be a tough race. We will need to have our running shoes on. I think our horse will love the long stretch. He’ll make it exciting.”

FOREVER UNBRIDLED DRILLS FIVE FURLONGS IN FINAL LOCAL MOVE FOR DUBAI WORLD CUP

In her final breeze at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots’ for the $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) on Mar. 31, Champion Older Dirt Mare Forever Unbridled drilled five furlongs in 59.60 on Thursday morning for trainer Dallas Stewart.

The 6-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song recorded eighth-mile fractions of 12.40, 22.40, 36.60, 48.20 and galloped out 1:12.60. Stewart generally kept her on a steady work schedule typically working her every Friday morning, but this time he decided to send her to the track earlier than usual.

“That finishes up our works here,” Stewart said. “Maybe we’ll go over there and work an easy half mile. I moved it up because she’s just been doing great. She’s been tearing the barn down, bucking and kicking in the afternoons. We just moved her up so she can have an extra day of galloping here. It was a great work, just like she’s been going. She stepped out nicely the last quarter.”

In Stewart’s 21 years of training Thoroughbreds, Forever Unbridled will be the first one that he will saddle in Dubai.

“I’ve always wanted to go but you got to have a good enough horse,” Stewart said. “It’s a long way and it’s a great race. We’re thankful that they invited us and hopefully we’ll meet the challenge.”

Forever Unbridled has proven herself to be well-traveled in her 17-race career having won eight races, all of which took place over different surfaces. She has won five Grade I races including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar, which was her most recent start.

Forever Unbridled is scheduled to ship out on Monday, Mar. 19.

LEADING RIDER MENA, VETERAN CLARK INJURED IN EIGHTH-RACE SPILL AT FAIR GROUNDS

A three-horse spill in Thursday’s eighth race at Fair Grounds Race Course & slots injured a pair of riders. Kerwin Clark was aboard ill-fated Ellashoo when the 4-year-old filly broke down nearing the five-sixteenth’s pole, setting off a chain reaction that resulted a pair of other horses falling – A Fashion Affair (Miguel Mena) and Queen Bernardina (Gabriel Saez). Clark complained of pain in his neck, jaw and ribs and Miguel Mena, who entered the day as Fair Grounds leading rider at the meet with 55 victories, suffered an injury to his right ankle. Both were transported to University Medical Center of New Orleans for further evaluation. Saez got up under his own power and rode the next race. Ellashoo had to be put down. Trainer Bret Calhoun reported that his Queen Bernardina “appears to be fine”. Andrew Valenzuela, trainer of A Fashion Affair, was unable to be reached.

Photo Courtesy of Coady Photography