Unknown Road could find his way on the Triple Crown trail

Fans in attendance at Fair Grounds on Thursday as well as those watching the local simulcast signal

around the nation got an early Christmas present if they paid attention to the

4TH race of the afternoon.

That was when JMJ Racing Stables' two-year-old ridgling Unknown Road cut out early fractions of

:22 1/5 and :46 2/5 before increasing

his lead throughout the stretch and come home 11 3/4 lengths in front with a final

time of 1:10 4/5.

"That was exciting," his understated trainer Al

Stall Jr. admitted Friday morning of the youngster who is a Bernardini half-brother to 1998 Eclipse

Award-winning three-year-old filly Banshee Breeze. "We were very pleased with his

race, yesterday."

What made the performance especially exciting was that the

black and yellow silks of JMJ Racing are strikingly similar to those of 1977

Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, and that image sets one's imagination racing

to an earlier golden era.

What's next? Does Unknown Road now have a more clear-cut

path to pursue?

"We'll probably now start looking at the (Grade 3, $200,000) Lecomte," Stall

explained. "His breeding certainly suggests he'll be better at two

turns. Also, he's an early bird nomination to the (Grade 2, $1 million) Louisiana Derby, so

we'll just have to see how everything goes from here."