The graded stakes action will begin on Saturday at Fair Grounds with the $400,000 New Orleans Handicap. Carded at a mile and an eighth on the main track, the Grade 2 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
Eagle has been installed as the morning line favorite in the competitive field at odds of 2-1 for trainer Neil Howard. Bred and owned by W.S. Farish, the four-year-old son of Candy Ride (ARG) has been on the board in nine of his eleven starts and is a five-time winner. He will be trying to earn his first graded stakes victory and was last seen finishing second in the Mineshaft Handicap (G3). Javier Castellano will be aboard and they will break from the outside post.
Second choice at morning line odds of 3-1 is International Star, one of two horses in the race for trainer Mike Maker. Bred and owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the four-year-old son of Fusaichi Pegasus has won six of his twelve starts and has had four of those victories at Fair Grounds. He will be trying to move forward after finishing fourth in the Mineshaft Handicap (G3) last time out. John Velazquez will be in the irons and they will break from the rail.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 20-1 is longshot Ride on Curlin for trainer William Gowan. A five-year-old son of Curlin, he has been on the board in thirteen of his twenty starts and is trying to earn his fourth victory and first graded stakes win. He will have to rebound after finishing tenth in the Maxxam Gold Cup Stakes at Sam Houston last time out. James Graham will be aboard and they will break from post position six.
There will always be Kentucky Derby entrants that would be much better suited to skip the race entirely and find a better spot if not for the gusto of their well-meaning owners, but the Road to the Derby point qualifying system has been remarkably efficient at making the race more of a level-playing field since its inception four years ago.
On Saturday at Keeneland, the featured race is the $250,000 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes. Scheduled to be run at one mile on the turf, the Grade 2 event has drawn a field of eight colts and geldings.
With a largely underwhelming, and thus far, slow, group of three year-olds set to contest the 2016 Kentucky Derby, logical handicappers searching for a pick outside of the undefeated and likely highly-favored Nyquist may have already begun the hand-wringing process.
On Friday at Oaklawn Park, the featured race is the $600,000 Apple Blossom Stakes. Restricted to fillies and mares, the Grade 1 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth on the main track and has drawn a field of six.
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