Loading ...Jan 20 2022
Fairgrounds Sat.Jan.22 Precap: Lecomte G3, Silverbulletday, 7 other 3yo races!
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Thursday, January 20, 2022.
The Fair Grounds at New Orleans has a huge three-year-old Saturday with NINE 3yo races, most of which are maiden special weight, but also including the Silverbulletday stakes for fillies and the Lecomte G3 for open 3yo company. Â
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Oh yeah, there’s also a G3 for older horses featuring two major Triple Crown competitors from last year: Kentucky Derby runner up Mandaloun who won the Risen Star G2 here last year, and Preakness and Travers runner-up Midnight Bourbon, who won the Lecomte here last year.
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As you might expect, the name Asmussen appears 16 times on the 14 race card in which over 140 horses are scheduled to run before scratches. Brad Cox has 12 entered, Dallas Stewart 10, Joe Sharp 7; Mark Casse and Albert Stall have about a dozen collectively. Todd Pletcher only runs 3, 1 in the filly stakes.
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There is a cold front moving in Thursday but the rain is scheduled to be over by Friday afternoon. Saturday should be sunny but chilly with a high around 50 degrees so it will be cold to start off the race day on first post at 1PM ET.
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Let’s break down the 3yo stakes races and give you a few long shot specials. First, you’ll want to get Saturday’s free Fair Grounds Grid to follow along and see what the heck we’re talking about.
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R14 7:20ET 8.5f D Lecomte-G3 3 YO.
Pappacap is the slight ML favorite at 8-5 here, making his 3yo debut for Mark Casse after finishing 2nd to the top 3yo Corniche in the American Pharoah G1 and BC Juvenile G1. Pappacap is the #1 Derby points earner by default since Baffert’s horse is not allowed any points. But Corniche is #1 on most lists including our Derby Double Dozen.
Epicenter is just behind him at 9-5, having done nothing wrong for Steve Asmussen in his past two, drawing away from the field in his last two including the Gun Runner stakes here in December.
Trafalgar and Cyberknife are the only others listed in single digits, and haven’t done much wrong but their PF’s don’t measure up to the top two so they would need a step up in class, just like every other in the field. Thus it makes sense to key the top two if you’re betting this one.
Call Me Midnight is my favorite long shot at 20-1, coming off a subpar G2 in November but before that an impressive maiden breakthrough for Keith Desormeaux. He also has top LP in the Grid, which bodes well in a race with a good amount of early speed in it.
It should be noted that Epicenter, Pappacap, and Trafalgar have individual entries in the Kentucky Derby Futures Pool 2, which begins on Friday and runs through Sunday Jan.23. They are the only entrants running this weekend. All Other 3yo’s (meaning Corniche or someone else Baffert runs) are currently the 7-5 favorite.
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The Silverbulletday is a 6 filly race, but on paper it’s really a 4 filly race. The only decent value of the 4 is 9-2 Bernabreezy, who probably won’t get any decent pace to run at. Not a good betting race.
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A few other long shot specials to look out for:
Graceleadsushome 8-1 in race 1.
Wang Commander 12-1 in race 4.
Ice Blast 8-1 in race 5.
Co Conspirator, Tiz of Thee, and Hoglayers RIP, all 8-1 in race 6.
Rather Be Lucky 8-1 in race 7.
Ferocity, I’m Your Captain, and Blue Bonzai, all 20-1 in race 9.
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Anyway, you got the FG Grid already, so remember to delete the scratched horses on Saturday morning and make your best picks from there. Good luck!
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You can get the Grid for all the major tracks and races, and any other track you request when you click on this page with our great discounts on winter packages.
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