NEW ORLEANS – There are trainers who have put together strong Fair Grounds seasons, and then there is Joseph “Bobby” Felks, who enters closing day of this meet having sent out 11 starters. His record: 8-1-2.
Nine Part was going to be favored to win the Costa Rising Stakes on Saturday’s card, and Felks wraps up this memorable several months by running his stable star, Synthetic, on Sunday.
Synthetic makes her turf debut in the Ova Charged, one of four $100,000 Louisiana-bred stakes on a 14-race program. Synthetic has raced five times and never lost. After three Louisiana-bred wins, Synthetic beat open first-level allowance horses by 9 1/2 lengths in her most recent outing while geared down, and the 98 Beyer Speed Figure she earned elicited purchase offers in the seven figures.
Her owner, Keith Plaisance, has more interest in racing this exceedingly fast 4-year-old filly than cashing in, Felks said Friday morning. What lies beyond Sunday’s race – who knows? Felks only races in Louisiana, and Synthetic, if she does what she figures to do, will merit a chance in graded stakes company.
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For now, there are eight Louisiana-bred fillies and mares to beat in the Ova Charged, contested at 5 1/2 furlongs on a fast, firm grass course that Felks feels confident Synthetic will handle. The filly is by Midshipman, a versatile sire, and acts like the sort of exceedingly talented horse who will carry her ability across surfaces, Felks said.
Synthetic last raced Jan. 31, giving her plenty of recovery time after her last-out burner, and – bad news for her rivals – Felks feels she’s coming into this race perhaps better than ever.
Regular jockey Emanuel Nieves worked Synthetic for Felks in the very first breeze of her career. Synthetic went three furlongs, and Nieves came back telling Felks he and Plaisance had something special. Synthetic has continued breezing with aplomb: Felks caught the last furlong of her most recent workout in 10 seconds and change.
Synthetic will go off an odds-on favorite, and Felks will likely end this meet with yet another winner.
Crescent City Derby
The Ova Charged is the only sprint among the Sunday stakes, with a pair of dirt-route stakes for older horses and the Crescent City Derby the other three races in the stakes sequence.
The Crescent City Derby was on the Fair Grounds schedule for Saturday but got backed up one day and went with six entrants.
Trainer Sam David isn’t winning at an astronomical percentage like Felks, but he’s winning more races at Fair Grounds than he has since 1999. David comes into closing weekend with 19 winners and has two for the Crescent City Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds on dirt. Lafitte’s Legacy, who won his debut in a turf sprint and could not duplicate that form facing winners on dirt, is an unlikely player Sunday, but Bubby has a solid chance if the Fair Grounds main track continues favoring forward placements.
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Bubby, by Blame, debuted Jan. 25 and turned in one of the best Louisiana-bred maiden performances of the meet, showing speed and drawing away to a 4 1/4-length sprint victory. David stretched him out to two turns a month later in an age-restricted Louisiana-bred stakes, and while Bubby finished second, beaten almost seven lengths, he stayed on decently enough to suggest he might race even more effectively in his second route.
The horse who beat Bubby, Creole Chrome, had been entered in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, and the mere fact that his connections considered that spot speaks to his talent. Sofia Vives, also having an excellent season, has a return call on Bubby.
While Creole Chrome’s not in the picture, Vives and Bubby must deal with Our Moneyman, whose trainer, Bret Calhoun, also is ending this meeting with a flourish. Over the last month, Calhoun has 11 winners from 37 starters and during the first week of March, he went 7-5-2-0 at Fair Grounds. Our Moneyman hasn’t raced since Jan. 3 and has never gone beyond a sprint distance.
Star Guitar
Calhoun stands a good chance of winning the $100,000 Star Guitar with Sippin On Gin. Sippin On Gin has won four of his seven starts, and while statebred standout Touchuponastar beat him nearly nine lengths a few months ago in the Champions Day Classic, Sippin On Gin’s second-place finish there might be good enough to win Sunday. Sippin On Gin flopped in his turf debut Feb. 28, but that race can be ignored.
Among his Star Guitar rivals is He’s Late Again, whom owner George Messina and trainer Brad Cox claimed for $35,000 last month while targeting this very race.
◗ Cox has a major player, Margie’s Intention, in the Shantel Lanerie Memorial, a female-restricted dirt route. Margie’s Intention hasn’t raced since September but last season won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan while earning top-three placings in three more graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Alabama. She’ll have to run down Blue Fire, a crack sprinter who carried her speed around two turns twice last Fair Grounds meet, beating Margie’s Intention in both of them.
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