Millionaires Nobals, Gigante Headline Trio of Turf Stakes On “Road to the Derby Day”

By Kevin Kilroy —-

12/21/2024 – Gigante with Jose Ortiz aboard wins the 19th running of the $100,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakles at Fair Grounds. Hodges Photography / Amanda Hodges Weir

New Orleans, La (Jan. 14, 2025) – Two sharp millionaires headline the trio of turf stakes on “Road to the Derby Day” at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, as Gigante returns after his Diliberto victory to face a field of 14 older males in the 1 1/16 miles $100,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley and the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) champion Nobals earned 9-5 morning line favoritism facing 10 older males in the 5 1/2 furlongs $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Stakes. The $100,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial, sibling stake to the Bradley, attracted an oversubscribed field of 16 evenly-matched older fillies and mares with Xtreme Racing Stables’ Cupids Crush tabbed as the lukewarm 4-1 favorite. The average field size across the three added money events is 13.6 entries. First post on Saturday, Jan. 18 is noon CT.

Saturday’s stakes action will kick off in Race 6 with the Kenner. Scheduled as Race 8, the Marie G. Krantz is the first leg of an All-Stakes Late Pick 5, which includes the $250,000 Lecomte (G3) and the $150,000 Fasig-Tipton Silverbulletday, both prep races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks that will award 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points to the top-five finishers. First post for the 12-race program is noon CT.

With over $1.1 million in career earnings, Iapetus Racing and Diamond T Racing’s Gigante enters the Colonel E.R. Bradley on the hunt for a sixth stakes title. The son of Not This Time was tabbed as the 7-2 morning line favorite. Jose Ortiz takes the call aboard the 5-year-old horse for trainer Steve Asmussen after piloting him to a one length victory last out in the Diliberto.

West Point Thoroughbreds and David Ingordo’s Northern Invader is set to return in the Bradley after a 6-month layoff. The 2023 Gio Ponti winner trained by Cherie DeVaux has been sharp in his local morning drills, most recently covering 4 furlongs in 48 and 3, 5th best of 116 on Jan. 9. Made 5-1 in the morning line, along with Godolphin’s American Derby winner Wadsworth, Northern Invader will break form the rail under jockey Luis Saez.

Fellow millionaire City Man is set to join Gigante in the starting gates. Owned by Andrew Stronach, the multiple graded stakes winner previously in the care of Christope Clement will be making his first start for trainer Rob Atras.

With a win in the Bradley, Nathan McCauley and Michael Olszewski’s Stitched’s career earnings would surpass seven figures. The 2023 Wise Dan (G2) champion trained by Greg Foley has sprinted in his last two but will be stretching back out to the distance of his graded stakes score.

The Colonel E.R. Bradley is slated as Race 10.

Boasting a lifetime bankroll of over $1.6 million, Patricia’s Hope’s Nobals was last seen in November at Woodbine, when he added another graded stake victory to his resume in the Kennedy Road (G2). The 6-year-old trained by Larry Rivelli had flown to Hong Kong in December for the Hong Kong Sprint but contracted a fever and didn’t race. Stablemate Uncashed is also entered in the Kenner. Both stakes titles on the lightly-raced 5-year-old’s resume came on the main track. Jockey E.T. Baird will pilot Nobals; Walter Rodriguez, Uncashed.

After leading the Richie Scherer at every call, Charles Marquis’s Bear River will look to stay hot in the Kenner. Trained by Keith Desormeaux, the 5-year-old by Flameaway came on strong over the summer in Kentucky with a three-race win streak that concluded with the Dade Park Dash at Ellis Park. Axel Concepcion returns to the irons and will guide Bear River from post 11.

The versatile Cupids Crush will return to what might be her best distance in the Marie G. Krantz. Perfect in both starts going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, the Minnesota-bred has won on every surface and at every distance she has tried. Trained by Mac Robertson, Cupids Crush rallied from the back of the pack to finish second last out in the Pan Zareta, a turf sprint.

Logical contenders in the Krantz include Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher’s Blushing K.D. victress Stir Crazy and Happy Friday’s Argentine-bred Nanda Dea. A Group 1 winner in her native country, Nanda Dea won her North American debut, a third-level allowance at Keeneland this fall for trainer by Ignacio Correas.

Nanda Dea is one of three South American imports entered in the Krantz, along with Champagne Rose, a Group 1 winner in her native Brazil and Quatro Y Vinte (Uru), who will make her third North American start for Paolo Lobo.

Complete fields for the trio of turf stakes, including jockey, trainer, and morning line odds, can be found on Equibase here: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG011825USA-EQB.html.

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Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will host live racing on Monday, Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The 5-day racing week begins on Thursday, Jan. 16. First post will be 12:45 p.m. CT each day, except for an early start of noon on “Road to the Derby Day,” Saturday, Jan. 18.

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About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, La, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 15 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 153rd Thoroughbred Racing Season–highlighted by the 112th running of the Louisiana Derby–will run from Nov. 22, 2024 through March 23, 2025. More information is available online at www.fgno.com.