FRESH FACES, FAIR GROUNDS FAVORITES RETURN IN FORMIDABLE JOCKEY AND TRAINER COLONIES

By Ryan Martin —-

NEW ORLEANS (November 14, 2018) – Live Thoroughbred racing is set to return in New Orleans for the 147th time, as Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will open for the start of the Thoroughbred racing season on Thursday, Nov. 15 with a 12:30 p.m. first post.

The new racing season provides a backdrop for a competitive battle in both the trainer and jockey standings, as longtime Fair Grounds stalwarts will be joined by new faces in both categories.

“We are delighted to have our loyal horsemen back as well as some new faces this year,” said Fair Grounds President and General Manager Doug Shipley. “We are looking forward to providing another successful racing season for our fans in New Orleans as well as around the world.”

Fresh off his second consecutive Fair Grounds leading trainer title earned here last season, Brad Cox will return in attempt at a third straight title. Last meet, Cox saddled eventual Grade I Longines Kentucky Oaks and Grade I Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Monomoy Girl to victory in the Grade II Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Mainstays in New Orleans will call Fair Grounds home again, led by 11-time local leader Tom Amoss and 13-time Fair Grounds leading trainer and Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen, who utilized the Fair Grounds in preparing 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner for his victorious swan song in this year’s Grade I Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January.

Other major returning players on the trainer side include 2015-16 meet leader Michael Stidham, Dallas Stewart, Joe Sharp, Bret Calhoun, Mike Maker, Al Stall, Jr., Larry Jones, and Mark Casse.

Several nationally recognized trainers who will be racing at Fair Grounds this season include Buff Bradley, Chris Hartmann, Ian Wilkes, Eddie Kenneally, Tom Morley, and Rodolphe Brisset. Widely recognized trainers on the year-round Louisiana circuit that will return to the Fair Grounds include Ron Faucheux, Corale Richards, Eddie Johnston and Sam David, Jr. In addition, Fair Grounds will also see some new faces on the backstretch this winter including the likes of up-and-coming trainers John Ortiz and Norm Casse. Multiple graded stakes winning conditioners Ralph Nicks and Tony Dutrow also will have strings at Fair Grounds.

The Fair Grounds jockey colony will again be among the most competitive in the country. Headlining the strong group of riders are the likes of Florent Geroux, who currently is the nation’s fourth leading rider in earnings and won the Fair Grounds riding title during the 2015-16 season. The French native is coming off a victory aboard Monomoy Girl in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which was Geroux’s fifth victory in a Breeders’ Cup race. Other prominent riders returning from years past include last meet’s leading rider Shaun Bridgmohan, as well as jockeys from years past in Miguel Mena, Colby Hernandez, Mitchell Murrill, Marcelino Pedroza and James Graham. British native rider Adam Beschizza will return to Fair Grounds for his second season after a highly successful meet last year where he was the second leading rider. Other notable riders coming back for their second season are the likes of Corey Lanerie, Joe Bravo, and Chantal Sutherland. New faces in the jockey’s quarters include Ty Kennedy and Joe Rocco, Jr. as well as a slew of apprentice riders looking to make their presence known at the New Orleans oval including Edgar Morales, Ezequiel Lara and Declan Carroll – the son of former trainer and current assistant to Mark Casse, David Carroll.

About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots (“Fair Grounds”), the nation’s third-oldest racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, LA, Fair Grounds is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ: CHDN). Fair Grounds also operates 14 OTBs (12 with video poker facilities) throughout southeast Louisiana. Live racing at Fair Grounds returns in the fall with the 147th Thoroughbred Racing Season – highlighted by the 106th running of the Louisiana Derby in March of 2019. More information can be found online at www.fairgroundsracecourse.com.