Fans in attendance at Fair Grounds on Thursday as well as those watching the local simulcast signal
around the nation got an early Christmas present if they paid attention to the
4TH race of the afternoon.
That was when JMJ Racing Stables’ two-year-old ridgling Unknown Road cut out early fractions of
:22 1/5 and :46 2/5 before increasing
his lead throughout the stretch and come home 11 3/4 lengths in front with a final
time of 1:10 4/5.
“That was exciting,” his understated trainer Al
Stall Jr. admitted Friday morning of the youngster who is a Bernardini half-brother to 1998 Eclipse
Award-winning three-year-old filly Banshee Breeze. “We were very pleased with his
race, yesterday.”
What made the performance especially exciting was that the
black and yellow silks of JMJ Racing are strikingly similar to those of 1977
Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, and that image sets one’s imagination racing
to an earlier golden era.
What’s next? Does Unknown Road now have a more clear-cut
path to pursue?
“We’ll probably now start looking at the (Grade 3, $200,000) Lecomte,” Stall
explained. “His breeding certainly suggests he’ll be better at two
turns. Also, he’s an early bird nomination to the (Grade 2, $1 million) Louisiana Derby, so
we’ll just have to see how everything goes from here.”
The Lecomte, at a mile and 70 yards, serves as Fair
Grounds’ showcase event on Road to the Derby Kickoff Day January 18. The Louisiana Derby, at nine furlongs, will be run on March 29.
JMJ Racing is the nom-de-course of Dennis Narlinger, a New
Jersey-born, 61-year-old San Juan Capistrano, California, resident now
semi-retired from the computer and electronics industry. His son Michael serves
as his racing manager as they pursue their racing and breeding interests.
Stall also indicated that Klaravich Stables and William
Lawrence’s Central Banker, second by a neck in the $100,000 Thanksgiving
Handicap, has been sent west for the Grade 1, $300,000 Malibu at Santa Anita on December
26.
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