Pants on Fire expected to return in Mineshaft

by Brisnet.com

George and Lori Hall's Pants on Fire, hero of last season's Grade 2 Louisiana

Derby at Fair Grounds, is being pointed toward a return to the Crescent City to

contest the Grade 3 Mineshaft Handicap on February 25.

The $125,000 Mineshaft, for older horses at 1 1/16-miles over the main track,

is one of six stakes worth a total of $885,000 that will be contested on a day

that is billed as Louisiana Derby Preview Day.

The upcoming Grade 2, $300,000 Risen Star, as the billing suggests, is the

final designed local prep race for this year's $1 million Louisiana Derby on

April 1, while the Mineshaft serves in the same capacity for the Grade 2 New

Orleans Handicap on that same closing day program of Fair Grounds' 2011-2012

session.

All of which circulates back to the subject of Pants on Fire, who could

become the third horse in the last five years to parlay a win in the Louisiana

Derby to one in the New Orleans Handicap. Trainer Todd Pletcher completed that

Fair Grounds double last year when Mission Impazible won the New Orleans

Handicap, and three years prior when Circular Quay accomplished the same feat.

Trainer Kelly Breen, who saddled Pants on Fire to win the Louisiana Derby

last year, would appear to be ideally placed to repeat the local double if the

four-year-old son of Jump Start were to run well in next weekend's Mineshaft.

"He's ready to run now," Breen said last week of Pants on Fire, who would be

ridden by Fair Grounds' defending rider champion and current leading rider Rosie

Napravnik in the Mineshaft. "We're going to take it race by race right now."

Pants on Fire has been away from competition since a fifth-place finish in

the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on the Jersey Shore at Monmouth Park last July

31. In addition to his Louisiana Derby win, the dark bay also captured the Grade

3 Pegasus Stakes and was a head second early in his sophomore season in the

Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes.

Pants on Fire worked five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 at Palm Meadows Training

Center on Sunday.

In addition to Pants on Fire, another horse being given serious consideration

for the Mineshaft Handicap at this time is Mister Marti Gras, winner of

Arlington Park's Grade 3 Washington Park Handicap last September. Following that

score, the Belong to Me five-year-old finished a close fourth in the Grade 2

Hawthorne Gold Cup, returned to the winner's circle in Churchill's Grade 3 Ack

Ack Handicap and then ran fourth in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap under the Twin

Spires on November 25.

Other older horses under consideration for the Mineshaft Handicap at this

time include the second, third and fourth place finishers in Fair Grounds'

$100,000 Louisiana Handicap, contested at 1 1/16 miles on January 21.

Beaten a length that day when finishing second after being bumped entering

the first turn was Fast Alex, who is conditioned by Greg Geier. The son of

Afleet Alex had previously won the Tenacious Handicap and finished fourth in

last year's New Orleans Handicap over the local oval.

Third under the wire in the Louisiana Handicap was Alma d'Oro, a Todd

Pletcher-trained son of Medaglia d'Oro who had finished second behind Mister

Marti Gras in the Ack Ack and run seventh in the Clark.

Also being pointed for the Mineshaft by trainer Mike Stidham is the City Zip

five-year-old Gleam of Hope, who was fourth in the Louisiana Handicap after

being bumped after the start and second by a nose in the Tenacious.

In other Louisiana Derby Preview Day news, Smart Bid could use the Grade 3

Fair Grounds Handicap as a steppingstone to a repeat victory in the Grade 2

Mervin Muniz Memorial Handicap on closing day over the local turf.

Veteran reinsman Edgar Prado has been engaged to ride the son of Smart Strike

in the $125,000 Fair Grounds 'Cap, which serves as the designed local prep for

the $400,000 Mervin Muniz Memorial.

Others considered likely for the Fair Grounds Handicap at this time include

the respective top-three finishes from the Grade 3 Col. E. R. Bradley Handicap

-- Mr. Vegas, Dubious Miss and Strike Impact -- as well as Papaw Bodie, who

captured the Grade 3 John B. Connally Stakes at Sam Houston last out on January

28.