Mission Impazible faces strong field in New Orleans title
defense
Familiar faces from Louisiana Derby Days past populate the 2012 version of
A gray five-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher, Mission Impazible has two wins
Javier Castellano will guide Mission Impazible, who seeks to join Marriage
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An excellent cast will line up against the favorite, including last year’s
Louisiana Derby hero Pants on Fire. The Kelly Breen trainee raced only three
more times last season after his Fair Grounds score, but did find the winner’s
circle in the Grade 3 Pegasus in his penultimate outing of the year. He returned
to action on March 3, following a seven-month layoff, and crushed an allowance
field at Gulfstream Park by 4 1/2 lengths. Rosie Napravnik, who rode Pants on
Fire to both stakes wins at three, has the mount.
Nehro missed by a neck to Pants on Fire in the 2011 Louisiana Derby, and
missed by the same margin in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby before running second to
Animal Kingdom in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. Sidelined with an ankle injury
following a fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont last June, Nehro finally returned to
action on February 25 and cruised against hapless first-level allowance foes by
7 1/4 lengths at Fair Grounds.
East Coast shippers Toby’s Corner and Redeemed could have a lot to say about
the outcome of the New Orleans. Best known for being the first to defeat Uncle
Mo, in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial last year, Toby’s Corner ultimately missed the
classics due to injury and did not see action again until the February 20
General George Handicap, a seven-furlong dash at Laurel. Fifth down the
backside, the Bellamy Road colt rallied for third in a good effort off the
bench.
Redeemed, who ran second in the Grade 2 Amsterdam and the Smarty Jones at
Parx Racing last fall, ended his sophomore campaign on a high note with
consecutive scores in the Oklahoma Derby and Grade 3 Discovery Handicap. He made
his 2012 debut in the Donn at Gulfstream, finishing a solid third despite a wide
trip.
The field’s lone West Coast representative, Thirtyfirststreet, was up the
track in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap last time. His most recent stakes
triumph occurred on turf in the Lone Star Derby last May.
The remainder of the New Orleans field consists of horses who have been
battling each other in the local preps. Ex-claimer Nates Mineshaft unexpectedly
wired the 2012 edition of the Mineshaft on February 25 to run his local mark to
four-for-four. Second that day was Fast Alex, who had previously won the
Tenacious Handicap and run second in the Louisiana Handicap. Multiple Grade 3
winner Mister Marti Gras was fifth in the Mineshaft and is also cross-entered in
the Grade 2, $400,000
Mervin H.
Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap later in the card.
The Muniz, at about 1 1/8-mile on the turf, also features a past winner in
Hitting the sidelines following a dull performance at Parx in September,
Narrowly failing to hold on in the Fair Grounds ‘Cap was Mr. Vegas, who had
In addition to Mister Marti Gras, who won his only previous attempt on the
Completing the field are Woodchopper winner Suntracer; Grade 3 Tampa Bay
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Seven horses will dash six furlongs in the $150,000
Duncan F.
Kenner, the first stakes on the program. Gantry previously captured the
Thanksgiving Handicap and F.W. Gaudin Memorial earlier in the meet in photo
finishes over Cash Refund, but both face serious challenges from Grade 2 winner
Travelin Man, a recent allowance scorer at Gulfstream; Florida Sunshine Millions
Sprint winner Soaring Stocks; and the multiple stakes winner Zero Rate Policy.
Three Louisiana-bred stakes finish up the black-type action Sunday. The
most intriguing is the $90,000
Costa
Rising, where 20-time stakes winner Star Guitar will attempt to become the
richest Louisiana-bred runner in history. With earnings of $1,635,862, Star
Guitar is currently $52,976 behind the late Grade 1-winning filly Happy Ticket.
Star Guitar will face nine rivals in the 1 1/16 miles Costa Rising, which
received a recent purse boost by the sponsoring Southern Oaks Plantation, a New Orleans
reception facility. The seven-year-old Star Guitar would finally surpass Happy
Ticket if he can take down the winner’s share of approximately $54,000.
Also for state-breds is the $75,000
Crescent City Derby for three-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and the $60,000
Bayou
St. Johns for older horses at about 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.