Fair Grounds to usher in 137th season

Fair Grounds to usher in 137th season

The historic New Orleans Fair Grounds will commence its 137th season of

racing on Friday, in a departure from the traditional opening on Thanksgiving

Day. The earlier starting date is just one of the new facets of the meet. Friday

also marks the grand opening of the newly constructed slots facility. In

addition, this will be the first season for Austin Miller in his new capacity as

president, having previously served as vice president and general manager of

slots and OTB operations at Fair Grounds. And, overnight purses will average

approximately $300,000 per day, the highest structure in the track's lengthy

history.

The stakes schedule has a familiar look, however, with major stakes days once

again punctuating the 87-day meet, which continues through March 29, 2009. The

nation's third oldest Thoroughbred track will offer 63 stakes worth more than

$6.6 million.

Louisiana Derby Day on March 14 will again offer $2.2 million in purses,

headlined by the 96th running of the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (G2) for

three-year-olds. Fair Grounds' three other Grade 2 races are also on the card --

the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks for three-year-old fillies, the $500,000 New

Orleans H. for older horses and the $500,000 Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial H. for

turf horses.

Louisiana Derby Preview Day will be February 7 and again features four Grade

3 races, including the $200,000 Risen Star S. for sophomores and the $150,000

Silverbulletday S. for three-year-old fillies. The other graded stakes on

Preview Day are for older horses -- the $125,000 Mineshaft H. and the $125,000

Fair Grounds H. .

"Road to the Derby" Kickoff Day is January 10, with the $100,000 Lecomte S.

(G3) serving as the headliner. The Lecomte is one of two Grade 3 stakes on the

card, along with the $100,000 Col. E.R. Bradley H. on the turf.

Other major events include the 18th edition of Louisiana Champions Day,

featuring 11 stakes worth $1.1 million for state-breds, on December 13; Santa

Super Saturday, with five stakes, on December 20; and Louisiana Lagniappe

Weekend on March 28-29, the meet's final two days.

Five stakes have been added to the schedule, all on the opening two weekends

of the meet, which are part of the track's first pre-Thanksgiving opening since

the 1970s. The co-features on opening day are the $60,000 Blushing K.D. H.,

named for the 1997 Fair Grounds Oaks (G3) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner, and the

$60,000 Si Cima S., named for the multiple stakes-winning Louisiana-bred.

The inaugural running of the

Blushing K.D., an about 1 1/16-mile turf test for fillies and mares, has

attracted a full field of 14. The Bill Mott-trained STORMY WEST (Gone West)

ranks as the 3-1 morning-line favorite. A near-miss second in the Jenny Wiley S.

(G2) in April, the dark bay captured the Caress S. at Belmont Park in June and

was most recently fifth in a terrific renewal of the First Lady S. (G1) at

Keeneland. Patrick Valenzuela has the call. Other contenders include six-time

stakes heroine TORTUGA FLATS (Wild Zone); Irving Distaff S. winner TEARS I CRY

(Chester House); FINAL REFRAIN (Lion Cavern), third in the Old Red S. at

Saratoga two back and a troubled fourth to WHISPER TO ME (Thunder Gulch) in a

Keeneland allowance last time out; BARBETTE (High Yield), successful in a pair

of stakes earlier this campaign; and NEW EDITION (Stormy Atlantic) from the

Steve Asmussen barn.

COLLECTZCAT (Wire Me Collect), who romped by five lengths in the Gardenia S.

last time out, has been installed as the 9-5 morning-line choice in the

Si Cima as she takes on eight Louisiana-bred rivals.

On opening Saturday, the $60,000

Mr. Sulu S. 

for Louisiana-breds on the turf salutes the three-time winner of the Louisiana

Champions Day Turf, for which this race will serve as a prep. Fourteen are set

to clash in the about 1 1/16-mile affair, among them DESERT WHEAT (Wheaton), who

defeated Mr. Sulu in the 2006 Louisiana Champions Day Turf.

The following weekend, on November 22, a pair of two-year-old sprint stakes

which have not been contested since 2001 return to the schedule -- the $60,000

Pontalba S., which is restricted to fillies, and the $60,000 Old Hickory S.

One race has been re-named. The Louisiana Lagniappe Sprint on closing weekend

will now be the John E. Jackson Jr. Memorial S., named for the longtime

Louisiana State Racing Commission official.

Four stakes races run in 2007-08 will not be contested this season -- the

Grindstone and Bedanken for three-year-olds on turf and the Louisiana Lagniappe

Ladies Sprint and Classic.

Although Thanksgiving no longer serves as opening day, clubhouse dining room

accommodations will still be extremely popular on the holiday. Accordingly, the

second annual online auction for those tables will continue this week. The

auction, which resumes Tuesday night and will continue through Sunday night,

offers interested parties the chance to bid on tables of six in one of six

different levels in the clubhouse's tiered dining room. In addition to tables

that remained from the initial auction offering, other tables were released to

be included in the auction. Bid prices will include dinner, tax, gratuity,

clubhouse admission and program for each guest at the table. Successful bidders

will receive tickets, program vouchers and other information in advance of

Thanksgiving.

To bid, go to ebay.com and search "Fair Grounds Thanksgiving." A portion of

the proceeds from this year's auction will be donated to the American Cancer

Society.