The 3-year-old colt Touch of Fire in his lone start, a Jan. 8 maiden turf route at Fair Grounds, went off at odds of 4-1, a tick over his 7-2 morning line. Don’t expect him to come close to his 3-1 morning-line odds in the $100,000 Black Gold Stakes, the featured race on a four-stakes Saturday card.
Three factors point toward a plummeting price.
Touch of Fire, racing for the mighty Brad Cox stable, won off by seven lengths in his debut.
Another Cox entrant in the Black Gold, Swift Blade, was en route Thursday to Oaklawn Park, where he runs in Saturday allowance race.
And, finally, Touch of Fire never should have been as high as his debut win price.
“I had a lot of confidence in him. He had been working good,” said Ricky Gianini, Cox’s Fair Grounds-based lead assistant. “What surprised me was him being 4-1.”
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Touch of Fire, a Juddmonte homebred by Constitution out of the Group 1-placed Medaglia d’Oro mare Mexican Gold, meets no more than six foes in the Black Gold, carded for 1 1/16 miles and restricted to 3-year-olds on the turf. He did little to nothing wrong in his debut, though Touch of Fire pulled a perfect pressing trip in a maiden race that, in retrospect, does not appear to have been especially strong. His 82 Beyer Speed Figure also doesn’t quite match the wide margin of victory, which is not to say Touch of Fire, Marcelino Pedroza with a return call, doesn’t merit favoritism.
He might, however, meet a worthy rival in McCready, an 8-1 chance on the morning line. Pedroza also rode McCready last out, and while circumstances dictated trip to some extent – and Pedroza is having an excellent Fair Grounds meet – it was not the jockey’s finest hour. Packed in tight quarters most of the trip and steadied back to last on the far turn, McCready finished with good energy when belatedly clear, galloping out like a horse who will appreciate the added half-furlong he gets Saturday.
McCready, trained by Hugh Robertson and to be ridden Saturday by Tim Thornton, had an even unluckier journey in his only other start, a Delaware turf-route maiden in October. He managed to win anyway and can give Touch of Fire all he wants, perhaps more, in the Black Gold.
Turf stakes for older horses
Favorites could hit hard in the two Louisiana-bred turf route stakes for older horses Saturday.
That’s expected from Rising Inflation, 4-5 on the morning line for the Red Camelia, a sex-restricted mile that kicks off a nine-race card.
The line reasonably lists Allnight Moonlight as a far cooler 3-1 favorite in the $100,000 Eddie Johnston Memorial, but you might lean on him, too.
Allnight Moonlight won the 2025 Johnston by two lengths, and in December won the Louisiana Champions Day Turf by 1 3/4 lengths. He made it 3 for 3 over the Fair Grounds course beating Louisiana allowance horses Jan. 15, then finished seventh Feb. 7 facing open company in a starter allowance he was favored to win.
The difference between the most recent Fair Grounds grass race and the first three? Three weeks ago, Allnight Moonlight raced along the rail most of the trip before being asked to punch through a narrow hole between rivals in midstretch. He did not appear inclined to do so – the rider easing up on his mount the final 50 yards – and from the look of his other Fair Grounds starts, Allnight Moonlight wants nothing more than to be taken wide and rally on the far outside. With that trip, he probably wins Saturday.
The Johnston drew 10 entrants but Benoit runs only if the race rains onto dirt. Letmikefigureitout, a good dirt horse who never has tried grass, will start on turf, trainer Alan Klanfer said in a Thursday text message.
The same goes for Sippin on Gin, according to trainer Bret Calhoun.
The Red Camelia drew seven entrants, and Rising Inflation should win regardless of racing surface.
Chad Brown trained Rising Inflation in her first five starts for Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables before current connections bought her for $45,000 at auction last April. Jonathon Wong took over training, slapped on a set of blinkers, and Rising Inflation became a tigress in Louisiana-bred ranks. In her lone Fair Grounds grass race, the Champions Day Ladies Turf, she overwhelmed divisional leader Wicked Secret, and the betting pools will forecast a similar result Saturday.
Star Guitar Stakes
Creole Chrome has shown enough in three starts that connections entered him Saturday in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Creole Chrome won’t make that trip and instead starts as the favorite in the $100,000 Louisiana Stallion of the Year Star Guitar Stakes.
While the morning line sets him as a tepid 5-2 choice, Creole Chrome could wind up a heavier favorite than that in his first two-turn try. Jose Ortiz was named but is riding Saturday at Oaklawn, and trainer Joe Sharp said Axel Concepcion picks up the mount.
Mor Force got a wide trip last out in a two-turn Delta sprint stakes while finishing second behind wire-to-wire winner Scar Ship. Both run back Saturday and it’s Mor Force who rates the better chance.
◗ The Louisiana-bred 3-year-old filly Braken Poppa is 2 for 2 in two-turn races and should win a third such contest in the $100,000 Louisiana Broodmare of the Year Charged Cotton.
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