Fair Grounds: Accomplished Girl Marshals Mardi Gras Stakes Carnival Cast

By Kevin Kilroy —-

Accomplished Girl; Hodges Photo
Accomplished Girl Marshals Mardi Gras Stakes Carnival Cast

New Orleans, La (Feb. 27, 2025) – A field of eight fillies and mares has been drawn for the $100,000 Mardi Gras Stakes, and Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots’ morning line oddsmaker Mike Diliberto has announced Gentry Farms’ Accomplished Girl as the 5-2 favorite for the 81st running of the 5 1/2 furlong turf sprint. The grade 2 winner marshals a carnival cast of familiar faces for the fourth and final stake in the turf sprint series for older females.

Fair Grounds will be celebrating the end of the carnival season with a parade in the paddock before the Mardi Gras, which is scheduled as race 8 of 9 on Fat Tuesday.

Earning the rank of grand marshal for the Mardi Gras with wins in both the Bobby Kelly Memorial and Pan Zareta, the Steve Asmussen trained grade 2 winner Accomplished Girl will be joined in the starting gates by many who paraded across those finish lines in her wake. Chief among them being Nelson J. Menard winner Oeuvre and her bridesmaid Speedy Traveler, who also served second fiddle to Accomplished Girl in the Bobby Kelly.

Carnival queen of the 2023 Mardi Gras, Dick Perkins’ Oeuvre returns for a second title to go along with her five local added money scores. The Illinois-bred bagged her third Menard earlier this meet. With $997,886 in career earnings, the 18-time winner trained by Chris Block is a minor award away from millionaire status.

Leading until the last jumps in both the Bobby Kelly and the Menard, Rigney Racing’s Speedy Traveler again drew advantageously to get the jump on her rivals from post 8. With four wins in nine career starts, the 5-year-old daughter of First Samurai has been inching closer to her first stakes score for trainer Phil Bauer.

Understudy to this year’s carnival queen in the Pan Zareta, Cupids Crush also proved second best to Stir Crazy when going two turns in the Marie G. Krantz. Packed like a sardine and chasing in the Bobby Kelly, the 5-year-old Mac Robertson trainee will be running to make the Mardi Gras her fourth stakes title.

Dark on Sunday, March 2, Fair Grounds will celebrate Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras with live racing. First post on both days is set for 12:45 p.m. CT.

Here’s the complete field for the $100,000 Mardi Gras Stakes from the rail out (with jockey, trainer, and morning line):

1 Huntress for Hire (Brian Hernandez Jr., Al Stall, Jr., 5-1)

8 Speedy Traveler (Jaime Torres, Phil Bauer, 7-2)

*****

With a five-pack of stakes set for Saturday, March 1, the 10-race program has an adjusted first post of 12:20 p.m. CT to accommodate the Endymion Parade, which will roll through Fair Grounds’ neighborhood of Mid City on Saturday night.

-30-

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.