Fair Grounds has boosted the purses of 19 open-company races on its 2011-12
stakes schedule released Wednesday. The 84-day Thoroughbred racing season —
running from November 24, 2011 to April 1, 2012 — will feature 60 stakes
cumulatively worth $7.54 million, including six Claiming Crown stakes worth
$500,000. The Claiming Crown will be hosted in New Orleans for the first time
December 3.
The 99th renewal of the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) will be run April 1,
the season’s final day. For the first time since 2004, Fair Grounds’ signature
race is set for a Sunday, which will be the day between Saturday night’s NCAA
Men’s Basketball Semifinals and Monday night’s Finals at the nearby Louisiana
Superdome.
The Louisiana Derby, contested at 1 1/8 miles over Fair Grounds’ storied main
track, is among the nation’s premier events for three-year-olds preparing to
make their next start in the the Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs.
Louisiana Derby Week will also feature Starlight Racing under the lights on
March 30 and 31. The latter program will have four stakes for fillies and mares,
anchored by the $500,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), the richest prep for the
Kentucky Oaks (G1).
“The 2012 Final Four presents a unique opportunity for Fair Grounds to show
off world-class racing to tens of thousands of out-of-state visitors in New
Orleans that weekend,” Fair Grounds Vice President & General Manager Eric
Halstrom said. “If ever there were a time for a sports fan to make their first
visit to our storied racetrack this would be it.”
The changes to Louisiana Derby weekend were just the beginning of several
enhancements to the stakes calendar. Every open-company stakes event will now be
worth at least $75,000 and four six-figure stakes also received sizable bumps.
In addition, seven stakes that have been run with unacceptable field sizes in
recent years have been eliminated.
“The adjustments to this stakes schedule have been made to reward the best
horses in our strongest divisions,” Racing Secretary Jason Boulet said. “We’re
out to attract the highest quality horses we can and the most straightforward
way to do that is to offer them more money.”
The races to receive the largest purse hikes from last season are the Lecomte
S. (G3), the first in a three-race series of two-turn graded stakes for
three-year-olds ($100,000 to $175,000); the Silverbulletday S., the first of
three major two-turn stakes for three-year-old fillies ($100,000 to $125,000);
the Rachel Alexandra S. (G3), the second local stop for three-year-old fillies
on the road to the Kentucky Oaks ($150,000 to $200,000); and the Louisiana H.
for older horses ($60,000 to $100,000).
The 15 open-company stakes that went from $60,000 last season to $75,000 this
season are the Thanksgiving H., the Woodchopper S., the Pago Hop S., the
Blushing K.D. H., the Tenacious H., the Buddy Diliberto Memorial H., the Marie
G. Krantz Memorial H., the Pan Zareta S., the F.W. Gaudin Memorial S., the
Tiffany Lass S., the Mardi Gras H., the Colonel Power S., the Allen Lacombe
Memorial H., the Black Gold S. and the Happy Ticket S..
Seven stakes that appeared on last season’s schedule have been discontinued
because recent editions produced small fields, although a few of the most
prominent race names were assigned new conditions. The discontinued stakes names
are the Bienville S., the Grindstone S., the John E. Jackson Memorial S., the
Dr. A.B. Leggio Memorial S., the Letellier Memorial S., the Pelleteri S. and the
Sugar Bowl S.
Stakes named that have been assigned more appropriate conditions are the
Black Gold S. (now for three-year-olds at about 7 1/2 furlongs on turf), the
Happy Ticket S. (older females at about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf), the Allen
Lacombe Memorial H. (three-year-old fillies at about 7 1/2 furlongs on turf),
the Mardi Gras S. (older females at about 1 1/16 miles on turf), the Pan Zareta
S. (older females at about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf) and the Tiffany Lass S.
(older females at 1 1/16 miles).
The Fair Grounds stakes schedule is highlighted by 10 stakes that were graded
last season — five Grade 2s and five Grade 3s. The Grade 2 events are the Risen
Star S. and Louisiana Derby for three-year-olds, the Fair Grounds Oaks for
three-year-old fillies, the New Orleans H. for older horses and the Mervin H.
Muniz Memorial H. for older turf horses.
The Grade 3 events are the Lecomte, the Rachel Alexandra, the Mineshaft H.
for older horses, and both the Fair Grounds H. and the Colonel E.R. Bradley H.
for older turf horses.
The North American Graded Stakes committee will meet in late 2011 to
determine gradings for 2012.
“We are hopeful that Fair Grounds could be on the cusp of its first Grade 1
race,” Halstrom said. “The Fair Grounds Oaks, which last season was the richest
Kentucky Oaks prep, has produced four Kentucky Oaks winners in its past seven
runnings.”