Baffert, Pletcher runners adjusting to New Orleans weather

Got Lucky was one of several ship-ins who exercised Friday over Fair Grounds’ main track (Adam Coglianese Photography) Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will be well represented at Fair Grounds on Saturday’s gala program after shipping one well-established filly for the Rachel Alexandra and a colt with a lot of promise for the Risen Star. The filly Streaming and the colt Hoppertunity arrived Wednesday at the Crescent City oval under the care of longtime Baffert assistant Jimmy Barnes. “I couldn’t be happier with the way both of them have adapted to the track here,” said Barnes during training hours Friday morning. “I expect both of them will run good races tomorrow.” Streaming broke her maiden at first asking last November and then captured the Hollywood Starlet by 1 1/2 lengths December 7. She missed by a half-length when the runner-up in her sophomore bow February 1 in Santa Anita’s one-mile Las Virgenes, but raced wide, finished willingly and should appreciate the added sixteenth of the Rachel Alexandra.

Hoppertunity is less experienced, having broken his maiden by three lengths
in his second and most recent start January 30, but Barnes speaks highly of both
of them.

“You never know how they’re going to handle a new surface in a race, but the
colt has a very good mind and I’m really very confident he’s going to run very
well and surprise a lot of people,” Barnes said.

“Also, I think they both are enjoying the cooler weather today. They both got
a little warm yesterday but they’re used to that warmer weather. It’s like the
weather in California, but today when it’s a little cooler, I think they like
that. The cooler weather seems to have freshened them both up a little bit.”

Meanwhile, multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher shipped four
horses to Fair Grounds for the graded stakes portion of Saturday’s Louisiana
Derby Preview Day, and the formidable foursome arrived at the local oval shortly
after noon (CST) on Thursday without incident.

“They are all in some pretty tough races, but they’re all doing well and
trained very well this morning,” said Ginny DePasquale, Pletcher’s longtime
assistant who traveled with the horses.

Intense Holiday is in the Risen after finishing third in Gulfstream’s Holy
Bull on January 25. He would appear to be well-suited for the long
stretch run of the Risen Star, and Got Lucky, who broke her maiden with a 5
1/4-length win at Gulfstream January 29, will challenge six other fillies in the
Rachel Alexandra.

Micromanage comes in to face eight other older horses on the main track in
the Mineshaft Handicap, while Unitarian, who will be going for his third
straight victory, is in the Fair Grounds Handicap on the Stall-Wilson turf
course after registering one of those last two scores on good ground with the
other coming on firm turf.

“This is a new track for all of them, but they all seemed to really take to
it this morning,” DePasquale said. “We had the filly jog a mile but the other
three galloped about a mile and a quarter. I think they all like to cooler
weather they had this morning. I packed night blankets for all of them but when
we got here yesterday it was so warm I had to borrow a bunch of fans to keep
them comfortable.”

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