Mineshaft draws competitive cast

NEW ORLEANS – Maxfield, a very good horse, won the 2021 Mineshaft Stakes, and Olympiad, an even better horse, won a year ago. Nothing on that level populates Saturday’s renewal of the Mineshaft, but competition runs deep in this 1 1/16mile stepping-stone toward the New Orleans Classic.

Nine were entered, though Happy American’s status remained uncertain midweek. Already a winner this meet of the Tenacious and Louisiana stakes, making him 2 for 3 since being gelded, Happy American came out of the Louisiana on Jan. 21, when he rallied strongly into a slow pace, somewhat bedraggled, trainer Neil Pessin said. The initial plan was to skip the Mineshaft and await the New Orleans Classic, but Pessin said Happy American bounced back to train so forwardly that he felt compelled to enter. But Happy American scraped his leg in his stall this week, and connections will decide Friday whether to run.

The two others running back out of the Louisiana, second-place Mr. Wireless and fourth-place Run Classic, reside in the Bret Calhoun barn. Mr. Wireless ran better in the Louisiana than the Tenacious, but Run Classic might be the better bet Saturday. Off a year and a half because of two injuries, Run Classic notched sharp one-turn wins last fall at Churchill Downs and Keeneland. Returning to route racing, he hooked into a compromising speed duel that got him beat in November, and Calhoun said the horse disliked the Oaklawn Park racing surface when failing to fire his best shot in the Tinsel Stakes. With no other pace in the Louisiana, Calhoun expected Run Classic to lead; instead, the horse wound up jammed behind the crawling tempo.

“That’s not how he wants to run,” said Calhoun, who expects Run Classic to go forward under new rider Reylu Gutierrez. “He’s coming into the race excellent.”

Tawny Port, racing for the first time since a dud in the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24, could go favored. Tawny Port gutted out a seventh-place Kentucky Derby finish, won the Ohio Derby, and came home a creditable third in the Jim Dandy.

“He could be a horse that gets something out of this race, but it was a good spot to start him back,” Cox said. “I’d say he’s a mile-and-an-eighth horse.”

Two solid runs last season at Fair Grounds led trainer Todd Pletcher to ship Pioneer of Medina from Florida. Pioneer of Medina flopped in the Kentucky Derby and his first start after, the Smarty Jones at Parx Racing, while racing without blinkers. Blinkers back on, he’s edged back toward top form, gutting out a second-place finish Dec. 31 in the Harlan’s Holiday. Pioneer of Medina led that day, and Pletcher believes the horse goes better with a target.

Hoist the Gold, a son of Mineshaft, has sprint form to make him competitive, but none of his 16 starts has come in a route. The question for Big Blue Line is one of quality. He exits a careerbest performance, an eye-catching Fair Grounds allowance score where he did get a perfect trip, and has come back to train strongly. Corey Lanerie, who has the Mineshaft call, was aboard for a bullet 59.20-second work last weekend.

“I told Corey to just go easy, and he did. He couldn’t believe he went 59 and 1,” trainer Paul McGee said.

Longshots Farmington Road and King Fury complete the lineup.