Stall will empty barn for Louisiana Champions

With horses set to start in six races, it will be a busy Louisiana Champions Day for trainer Al Stall, and if those horses run to form, it should be a successful one.

Though Seaside Candy will be scratched from the two races in which she was cross-entered, Stall has livelooking 2-year-olds in a pair of Louisiana-bred maiden races, as well as the likely favorite in three $100,000 stakes.

My Miss Chiff is formidable chalk in the Ladies Sprint, while Minit to Stardom could be an odds-on favorite in the Lassie. Divine Bean’s price won’t be as short as Minit to Stardom’s, but he stands a good chance of going off favored in the Juvenile, and a good chance of winning.

Minit to Stardom and Divine Bean are homebreds owned by Evelyn Benoit’s Brittlyn Stables and sired by Benoit’s stallion, Star Guitar. Both won their career debuts Nov. 22 at Fair Grounds and come right back on Champions Day – just like daddy. Star Guitar won first out for Stall on Nov. 22, 2007, and was back Dec. 8 to win the Champions Day Juvenile.

“These 2-year-olds, they come back to it pretty quick,” Stall said. “I’m not worried about bouncing.”

Both horses appeared to win with something in reserve last month, and Minit to Stardom benefits from landing in a soft spot. The Lassie drew just eight entrants, one of whom, Cool Spring, is cross-entered in a maiden race. Minit to Stardom didn’t break the clock in her debut, but she drew away to win by more than five lengths and will be tough to handle at a short price.

Divine Bean showed speed from the rail first time out and was throttled down late to win by 2 1/4 lengths. The colt probably can rate off the pace, as might be needed in the Juvenile, and should have no problem stretching from 5 1/2 to six furlongs.

The Juvenile, though, is a stronger race than the Lassie. Ready Prospector won two stakes at Evangeline Downs over the summer and drops in class after setting the pace and fading in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, a route race at Keeneland. Pound for Pound, Cajun Creed, Exigent, and Aceguitar also have shown spark, but keep an eye on Greeley Gone West, who was a facile debut winner at Louisiana Downs despite encountering early trouble and who has worked fast toward the Juvenile for trainer Sweet Hodges.

My Miss Chiff goes in the Ladies Sprint, carded as race 12, the last stakes. A lightly raced 3-year-old, My Miss Chiff impressed last Fair Grounds meet and returned from a long break Nov. 18 with an eye-catching win in the Happy Ticket Stakes. My Miss Chiff, who is by Into Mischief, ran fast in her comeback race, but not too fast.

“She should be fine coming right back,” Stall said. “She’s a tough filly.”

Wheatfield, who won this race last year and was second in the Happy Ticket, looks like the primary opposition.

Cox barn tough on turf

The Brad Cox barn has two starters in the $100,000 Ladies Turf and one in the $100,000 Turf, and the stats say to bet all of them.

Over the last two years, Cox’s record in Fair Grounds turf races at one mile or longer is 45-16-16 from 114 starters, a 39 percent strike rate accompanied by a $2.33 return on investment. Filter more finely, and find that in Louisiana-bred turf races during that period, Cox has won with seven of 11 starters.

Barring a dead heat, Inveniam Viam or Dontmesswithjoanne will lose the Ladies Turf, but both figure to contend. Inveniam Viam was first and Dontmesswithjoanne third in the Si Cima Stakes, a one-mile grass race last month, but Inveniam Viam got first run into slow fractions that day while Dontmesswithjoanne, far behind the crawling pace, turned in a blistering 22.48second closing quarter-mile. Saturday’s race has more pace and is a half-furlong longer, and Dontmesswithjoanne, a 3-year-old with upside, can turn the tables.

Extra Credit is the Cox runner in the Turf unless, as is possible, his connections opt instead for the Classic. He also finished with good energy to be fourth, beaten less than a length, in the Mr. Sulu Stakes, his Champions Day prep. Extra Credit races for the second time since being gelded, and with likely favorite Trust Factor occupied on the front end by Hail to the Nile and Who Datawaki, either Extra Credit or Mr. Sulu winner Fort Pulaski can come late to win. Trust Factor was second as the odds-on favorite in the Mr. Sulu and probably is best suited to races slightly shorter than the 1 1/16-mile Turf.

Jockamo’s Song returns

Jockamo’s Song won the $100,000 Champions Day Sprint in 2015, was second in the 2016 edition, and is back for more Saturday.

The steady and versatile 5-year-old trained by Mike Stidham for the Dare to Dream Stable is among 10 entrants in the sprint, and if history is a guide, Jockamo’s Song will run his race. From 19 trips to the post, Jockamo’s Song has eight wins (five on dirt, three on turf) and 13 top-three finishes. He’s never been worse than second in six races at Saturday’s six-furlong distance, and has three wins and two seconds from six Fair Grounds main-track races.

What Jockamo’s Song doesn’t have is a start since Aug. 5, and the last two years he came into the Sprint with a recent race or two behind him.

“In a perfect world, I’d have liked to have gotten one more work into him,” Stidham said.

Jockamo’s Song was tagged late in last year’s Sprint by My Friend Flavin, who was a 15-1 shot then and will be a price again Saturday. With plenty of speed signed on, the late-running Nubbin Ridge, still in fine form at age 7, has to be considered.