The following race preview is reposted via permission of ScoresandStats.com
Field of
Nine Set for Saturday’s Louisiana Derby
Saturday’s
Louisiana Derby closes out the last Saturday of major graded horse racing in
the month of March. This Grade 1 event is the biggest Kentucky Derby prep race
of the season at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans.
With $1 million
up for grabs in total prize money, nine three-year old contenders have been
entered into Saturday’s field. The competition for this year’s title runs deep
with just two longshots in the field based on the opening morning line odds.
The race will be contested on the dirt track at Fair Grounds covering a total
distance of 1 3/16 miles.
Backed by some
of the best trainers in the game, the following is a look at my top three picks
to finish in the money in Saturday’s featured event.
Saturday,
March 26
2022
Louisiana Derby- Fair Grounds Race Course
Post Time:
6:44 p.m. (ET)
Win:
Epicenter
Coming off an
impressive victory in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds on Feb. 19, it
would be hard to go against the morning line favorite at 7-5 odds. Trained by
Steve Asmussen, the three-year old Kentucky-bred colt with break from the No. 6
post on Saturday with jockey Joel Rosario.
The son of Not
This Time has won three of his last four races going back to a Maiden Special
Weight race at Churchill Downs in mid-November of last year. He started this
year by placing second in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan.
22. His winning time in the Risen Star over 1 1/8 miles on dirt was 1:49.03
past Smile Happy and Zandon.
Place: Call
Me Midnight
The
Kentucky-bred colt did not run in this year’s Risen Star after winning the
Lecomte Stakes in his three-year old debut. With jockey James Graham getting
the call on Saturday, he will break from the No. 3 post in this race as a 6-1
third-favorite on the morning line.
Trained by
Keith Desormeaux, the Midnight Lute sire posted a winning time of 1:44.36 in
the 1 1/16-mile Lecomte. He was able to work his way past Epicenter in that
race to set up the head-to-head rematch this Saturday. Busy as a juvenile, Call
Me Midnight raced six times last year with mixed results. He finished in the
money in two of those events.
Show:
Pioneer of Medina
Famed trainer
Todd Pletcher’s top entry in Saturday’s field will break seventh with Tyler
Gaffalione as his jockey. The son of Pioneerof the Nile has been opened as a
5-1 second-favorite to win. He has the third-highest Horse Racing Nation rating
in the field of nine at 5.71.
This Kentucky-bred
colt faded out of the money his last time out by taking fourth place in the
Risen Star last month. This followed a victory at Fair Grounds on Jan. 22 in
his three-year old debut. He won an Allowance Claimer at 1 1/16 miles by
covering that distance on dirt in 1:45.21. Pioneer of Medina closed out his
two-year old campaign with a victory in a 1 mile 40 yard Maiden Special Weight
race at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 22.
One to Watch
Breaking from
the favorable No. 5 post, my one to watch in this race is trainer William
Calhoun’s Kupuna at 8-1 odds on the morning line. He took second in an
Allowance Claimer at Fair Grounds on Feb. 22.
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