Fair Grounds’ 153rd Season Sees Banner Years for Many Barns, Led by Sharp

By Kevin Kilroy —-

Touchuponastar; Hodges Photo

Fair Grounds’ 153rd Season Sees Banner Years for Many Barns, Led by Sharp

New Orleans, La (March 25, 2025) – Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots wrapped up its 153rd season of racing on Sunday, March 23, and led by Joe Sharp, several of horse racing’s top barns produced their most successful local meets to date.

Finishing with 40 wins from 151 starts, Sharp earned top trainer honors for the first time in his 11 seasons stabled at Fair Grounds. Having run second four straight years from 2015 – 2019, the perennial contender collected over $1.3 million in earnings this season, winning at a 26% clip. Sharp saddled Kavod ahead of his win in the $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner. He also unveiled a promising group of 3-year-olds, including Furio, Ancient World, High Ceiling, and Sierra November. With 952 lifetime wins, Sharp could achieve his career milestone 1,000th victory when defending his title during Fair Grounds’ 154th meet.

Finishing fifth in the standings, Cherie DeVaux tallied the most wins and highest earnings of her five years stabled in New Orleans. Of her 22 wins, DeVaux saddled many promising talents, including Ahavah, Montalcino, Hey Bertie, and Pisciotta. She also won a repeat title in the Fair Grounds Stakes (G3) with Taking Candy, and racked up over $1.1 million in purse earnings.

In his second year at Fair Grounds, Whit Beckman won 8 races with a 21% strike rate, led by saddling the winners of the first two Kentucky Oaks preps, as Her Laugh took the $100,000 Untapable and Simply Joking, the $150,000 Fasig-Tipton Silverbulletday.

The meet began with Louisiana Champions Day Preview Weekend on Nov. 22-23, featuring six stakes written for horses bred in the Pelican State, and the pinnacle of the meet was Louisiana Derby Day on March 22, when eight stakes were carded, including four graded affairs. The 112th running of the $1 million TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) was the highlight of the 64 stakes contested over the 76-racing day meet. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen scored a record-tying fifth victory, as Tiztastic streaked late to win the local derby and catapult to the top of the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard standings.

Another race that will be forever remembered took place on Louisiana Derby Day, as Set-Hut’s Louisiana-bred Touchuponastar beat open company in the 100th running of the $500,000 New Orleans Classic presented by Relyne GI By Hagyard (G2). The millionaire beat the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) champion, Sierra Leone, to earn his first graded stakes title.

Also celebrating its centennial running, the $225,000 Thanksgiving Classic saw Miles Ahead make it back-to-back titles for trainer Paul McGee.

The Road to the Derby series saw local horses win all four Derby preps, as Built began the trend in the $100,000 Gun Runner for Wayne Catalano.

Many famed connections continued their tradition of remarkable success at Fair Grounds. Steve Asmussen led all with $2,398,556 in earnings from 9 stakes titles. Asmussen sent out the winners of the final two Derby preps as Tiztastic took the Louisiana Derby and Magnitude scored the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star (G2). With 22 wins, Asmussen tied for fifth with DeVaux.

Finishing second in the standings with a 30% strike rate, Brad Cox took home another Derby prep with Disco Time’s big late run in the $250,000 Lecomte (G3). For the second straight year, Cox sent out the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra and $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks victress, as Good Cheer matched Tarifa’s 2024 successes.

Career win number 1,000 came early in the meet for trainer Dallas Stewart. Valene Farms’ Smoken Wicked earned Stewart the milestone in the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile Stakes. Stewart’s barn was firing all meet, ending with 13 wins at a 20% clip.

Jose Ortiz’s hot start to the meet never cooled off, as the Eclipse winning jockey won three on opening day and five to close things out, ending his first local meet with 98 wins and the trophy for leading rider.

Jareth Loveberry and Ben Curtis both had their best seasons to date in terms of total wins, as Loveberry finished second with 55 and Curtis in third with 49. Loveberry piloted the second-place finishers in three of the Derby preps with Built in the Lecomte and Chunk of Gold in both the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. Curtis won two graded stakes with long-odds runners, guiding Magnitude wire-to-wire at 43-1 in the Risen Star and Idratherbeblessed at the astronomical 86-1 in the $300,000 Muniz Memorial presented by Horse Racing Nation (G2).

Godolphin took home a second owner’s title, highlighted by winning consecutive editions of both the Rachel Alexandra and Fair Grounds Oaks with their homebred Good Cheer.

Fair Grounds hosted both the 2024 Kentucky Derby and Oaks winners, as Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna continued training across the revered main track while stabled with Ken McPeek.

Track announcer John G. Dooley celebrated his 20th anniversary calling races in New Orleans. Second generation track photographer Lou Hodges Jr. announced his retirement after 50 years of service to the track. Hodges passed the baton to daughter Amanda who will continue the family tradition. A member of the Hodges family has served as Fair Grounds’ in-house photographer for 76 years.

The highly-regarded Louisiana-bred filly Blue Fire achieved perfection from her four local starts. Owned by Stonestreet Stables and Peter Leidel, the Aurelius Maximus filly trained by Steve Asmussen capped off a trio of stakes titles winning the $100,000 Crescent City Oaks over closing weekend. The 3-year-old snagged $214,800 in local purses.

Also undefeated over the meet, George Messina and Michael Lee’s Fionn won three for trainer Brad Cox, including the $100,000 Allen “Black Cat” LaCombe stakes.

On Saturday, Feb. 22, Fair Grounds honored the equine athletes with the fifth annual “New Vocations Day at the Races.” Jockey Rosie Napravnik, a four-time local champion, joined Fair Grounds personality Joe Kristufek on-air to raise money for all aspects of racehorse aftercare.

At season’s end, seven of the top 20 horses on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard ran in Fair Grounds’ prep series. Last year the Risen Star winner Sierra Leone went on to run second, Louisiana Derby winner Catching Freedom ran fourth, and Derby winner Mystik Dan did the majority of his training around the local oval. If recent history is any inclination, many of the top performers from Fair Grounds’ 2024 – 2025 meet will go forward to snatch purses and grab headlines on horse racing’s national scene.

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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.