Pants on Fire, Nehro back on LA Derby Preview undercard

As current Kentucky Derby hopefuls look to earn their stripes in Saturday's

Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes, it's fitting that the top two finishers from last

year's Grade 2 Louisiana Derby -- Pants on Fire and Nehro -- will launch their

four-year-old campaigns on Louisiana Derby Preview Day at Fair Grounds. Pants on

Fire is entered in the Grade 3, $125,000

Mineshaft Handicap, one of five supporting stakes on the undercard, while

Nehro opts for an easier spot in an optional claimer.

Pants on Fire just held the late thrust of Nehro by a neck in the 2011

Louisiana Derby, and the $600,000 payday earned him a spot in the starting gate

for the Kentucky Derby. But the Kelly Breen trainee didn't fire at Churchill

Downs, where he reported home ninth and was found to have bled. Pants on Fire

regrouped at his summer base of Monmouth Park, and came back in June to capture

the Grade 3 Pegasus by two emphatic lengths.

After disappointing again with a fifth in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on

July 31, Pants on Fire was sent to the sidelines. He has been training sharply

at Palm Meadows for his return from a nearly seven-month layoff. Leading rider

Rosie Napravnik, who teamed up with him so well in the Louisiana Derby and

Pegasus, renews their partnership.

A stepping stone to the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap April 1, the 1 1/16-mile

Mineshaft attracted two other Florida shippers, Cool Blue Red Hot and Alma d'Oro,

and a pair of Californians, Tres Borrachos and Gladding. Cool Blue Red Hot was

most recently third to Jackson Bend in the Grade 3 Hal's Hope at Gulfstream Park

on January 14, and Alma d'Oro exits a third in the January 21 Louisiana Handicap

in his last visit for Todd Pletcher.

Tres Borrachos, a multiple Grade 2 veteran approaching millionaire status,

has finished second in both the Grade 3 Native Diver and the Grade 2 San Pasqual

of late. Grade 2 winner Gladding has not raced since his fourth to Mister Marti

Gras and Alma d'Oro in the Grade 3 Ack Ack on Breeders' Cup Friday. Mister Marti

Gras is among the local team, including the respective top two from the

Louisiana 'Cap, Thiskyhasnolimit and Fast Alex.

Nehro has been out of action for longer than Pants on Fire, since undergoing

ankle surgery following his fourth in the June 11 Belmont Stakes. That ended a

streak of second-place finishes, including another near-miss in the Grade 1

Arkansas Derby and a fine runner-up effort in the Kentucky Derby. The Steve

Asmussen pupil is still eligible for an entry-level allowance/optional claimer,

so connections are taking advantage of his conditions by entering him in the

5TH race. Shaun Bridgmohan picks up the mount aboard Nehro in this mile and

70-yard affair. Among his opponents is fellow comebacker Majestic Harbor,

unraced since his ninth in the Louisiana Derby.

The Grade 3, $125,000

Fair Grounds Handicap is a lead-in to the Grade 2 Mervin H. Muniz Jr.

Memorial, also on Louisiana Derby Day April 1. The about 1 1/8-mile contest over

the Stall-Wilson turf course features Smart Bid, last year's Muniz winner, who

ships in from Florida for Graham Motion; Mike Maker's Florida invader Derby

Kitten; the respective top three from the Grade 3 Col. E.R. Bradley here, Mr.

Vegas, Dubious Miss and Strike Impact; Gleam of Hope, who returns to arguably

his best surface; and Team Block's nicely-bred Ioya Bigtime. Mister Marti Gras

is cross-entered to the Mineshaft and the Fair Grounds 'Cap.

Headlining the $75,000

Colonel Power Stakes is Chamberlain Bridge, hero of the Breeders' Cup Turf

Sprint in 2010. The Bret Calhoun veteran was last seen wiring the December 17

Bonapaw Stakes over this same turf course and about 5 1/2-furlong trip. His

nearest pursuers that day, Country Day and Southern Style, take him on again.

Lonesome Street shortens up off a fifth in the Col. Bradley; Cactus Son, Zeb and

Heir Joe all exit course-and-distance wins; and Joe Hollywood reverts to the

turf after a few solid main-track performances for Asmussen.

Kicking off the stakes action is the $60,000

Gentilly Stakes for Louisiana-bred three-year-olds going about a mile on

turf.

The Risen Star anchors the stakes extravaganza, which also features its

companion event for three-year-old fillies, the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra.