Girvin has first workout for Louisiana Derby

Girvin took another step toward the $1 million Louisiana Derby, to be run April 1, when he worked a half-mile in 49 seconds on Saturday at Fair Grounds. The drill was Girvin’s first officially timed exercise since he won the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 25.

Ridden by former jockey Rosie Napravnik, Girvin worked in company with Cool Arrow, who was ridden by trainer Joe Sharp, Napravnik’s spouse.

“It went great,” Sharp said Sunday. “Rosie said she had plenty of horse. Girvin’s one of those horses that just does what you ask him in a work. When she stood up, he galloped out way in front past the wire. He came back 100 percent today.”

Girvin, who failed to sell at several 2-year-old auctions for owner Brad Grady, won a fast dirt sprint in his career debut last December at Fair Grounds. He was unable to start Jan. 21 in the Lecomte Stakes because Sharp had stabled Girvin with his string at the Evangeline Downs training center when the Fair Grounds backstretch came under a state-imposed quarantine after an equine herpesvirus outbreak.

Trying to get Girvin two-turn experience before the Risen Star, Sharp ran him in the Keith Gee Memorial, a one-mile grass race in which he finished second. Girvin, getting a favorable trip under Brian Hernandez Jr., won the Risen Star by two lengths, earning a careerbest 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

Girvin also developed a minor foot problem this winter and for a time was wearing a special shoe, but Sharp said the colt is regularly shod now.

“It’s just more waiting now,” he said. “He’s got two more works before the Louisiana Derby. I would say he just keeps kind of moving forward right now. I’d say he’s probably a little inflated from his last start, his personality and confidence level. He’s all boy out there, a lot of horse, but he has manners when he needs to.”

Stallion Heiress becoming a pro

The 3-year-old filly Stallion Heiress is unbeaten in three starts after winning the $50,000 Allen “Black Cat” Lacombe Memorial on Saturday by 3 1/2 lengths. Stallion Heiress got an 84 Beyer Speed Figure, two points lower than in her 7 1/4-length win Feb. 11 in the Joseph E. “Spanky” Broussard Memorial, but trainer Mike Stidham was pleased with Stallion Heiress’s more mature performance Saturday.

“I like to see that she was able to control her speed a little better, look a little more professional doing it, and when they came to her, she was able to kick in and pull away,” Stidham said. “Those horses that have to open eight or 10 lengths aren’t always that reliable.”

Stidham said Stallion Heiress came out of her race in good shape and probably will be pointed to the Appalachian Stakes next month at Keeneland. Longer-term goals include the Edgewood at Churchill Downs in May and races later this year in Canada since Stallion Heiress is an Ontario-bred.

As for Stidham, he is changing his operation this year. Normally a summer fixture at Arlington, Stidham will have only 15 to 20 horses there this year, he said. He has leased a 38-stall barn at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland and has 50 stalls at Delaware Park.

Believe in Bertie maturing

It was no surprise seeing Believe in Bertie racing on the lead Saturday in the Red Camelia Stakes, a two-turn turf race for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares. Believe in Bertie, after all, has been the first-call leader in eight of her 10 grassroute starts.

What was surprising was to see the filly rating fairly kindly through an opening half-mile in slower than 50 seconds, then coming home with a sub-23-second final quarter-mile. Believe in Bertie has been a fast-early, slow-late kind of runner at her best, but the Red Camelia, which she won by 6 3/4 lengths while eased up late, was slow early and fast late.

“I think she’s growing up,” trainer Brad Cox said of the 4-year-old filly. “She’s hopefully one that could keep getting better. That’s going to determine what kind of horse she is, whether she’s a horse for these stakes down here in the winter, or if she can run in Grade 2’s and Grade 3’s.”

Cox said he plans to point Believe in Bertie to the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs in May. Believe in Bertie got a 96 Beyer Speed Figure in the Red Camelia, her fourth victory during a Fair Grounds meet at which she set turfcourse records for one mile and 1 1/16 miles.

◗ First-level turf-sprint allowances, races 3 and 7, are the highest-class fare on Thursday’s nine-race Fair Grounds card.

◗ Local Hero, the thirdplace finisher in the Risen Star, his stakes debut, worked five furlongs Monday at Fair Grounds in 1:01, the fastest of 20 breezes at the distance. Local Hero is being pointed to the Louisiana Derby.