1751 Gentilly Blvd.,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jim Mulvihill, Communications and Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager, 504.948.1233, james.mulvihill@fgno.com
Contact: Graham Ross, Staff Writer, 504.948.1255, graham.ross@fgno.com
Theriot wins four friday at fair grounds
Also:
· Clark Handicap Winner Giant Oak Pointed to
· Super
· Jockey Richard Eramia Rides Hat Trick Friday
By Graham Ross, Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS (Saturday, November 27, 2010) – Three years ago, Louisiana-born jockey Jamie Theriot rode most of the races on a cold, overcast November day at Churchill Downs, got into his car at the end of the day and drove all night to ride the opening day card at Fair Grounds.
It proved to be worth the rush. Theriot arrived in time for the first race of the
Could this be a déjà vu winter for Theriot? On Friday, second day of the 2010-2011 Fair Grounds season, the blonde native of Breaux Bridge won four races, beginning with the opener aboard Whispering Oaks Farm’s Joe Hollywood for two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Steve Asmussen, the fifth on Carl Moore Management’s Power Surge for Bret Calhoun, the featured $60,000 Mr. Sulu Stakes with Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Hallway, again for Asmussen, and the finale astride John Devieilh and Keith and Earl Hernandez’ Tiger Rock for Frank Leggio. Is a second Fair Grounds riding title in his future this winter?
“Every meet we go for that,” Theriot said Saturday morning in the track kitchen after working six horses earlier in the day. “I’m certainly riding for the right kind of outfits to be able to do that. Shaun Bridgmohan will ride the majority of Steve Asmussen’s horses once he gets down here from Churchill, but I’ll get to ride a few of them for him during the season. I will ride a lot of horses for Bret Calhoun and a lot for Tom Amoss, so I should do all right.
“This has turned out to be a very good year for me,” Theriot said. “I won two Breeders’ Cup races for Bret (the Grade I Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Martin Racing Stable and Dan Morgan’s Dubai Majesty and the Grade II Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Carl Moore Management’s Chamberlain Bridge) and that was a big thrill. It’s a great feeling to be able to ride in races like that, and I really don’t think the reality of winning two Breeders’ Cup races has sunk in yet. My home is in
“Of course, most of the year I rode in
“I’ve been riding almost 15 years now, and every year seems to be getting better and better,” the 31-year-old Theriot said. “I’ve still got some goals I want to accomplish – like win the Kentucky Derby and at least one of the other Triple Crown races. If I can do that I could call my career complete. I may be able to ride another 12 to 15 years before I call it quits, and beyond that, of course, I hope to stay healthy and safe.”
CLARK HANDICAP WINNER GIANT OAK TO BE POINTED TO NEW ORLEANS HANDICAP – Fair Grounds trainer Neil Pessin was all smiles on the local backstretch Saturday morning following Giant Oak’s adjudged victory in Friday’s Grade I Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, and why shouldn’t he be? Pessin trains the Virginia Tarra-owned Giant Oak during the winter months at Fair Grounds.
“We had to get put up to win it,” said Pessin of Giant Oak, who finished second by a head under the wire, “but we’ll take it. A win is a win.
“Giant Oak will be going to
The 4-year-old son of
SUPER DERBY WINNER APART ALSO NEW ORLEANS HANDICAP-BOUND – Adele Dilschneider’s Apart, who won three straight stakes including the Grade II Super Derby at Louisiana Downs and the Grade III Ack Ack Handicap at Churchill Downs before finishing seventh in the roughly-run Clark Handicap, will also be coming to Fair Grounds and be pointed toward the New Orleans Handicap, trainer Al Stall Jr. indicated Saturday morning when interviewed by Churchill’s Jill Byrne on her paddock show.
Stall also humorously recalled his own youth in
“Whenever I got suspended, I was happy,” said Stall, who would make use of the time by going right to Fair Grounds to watch the races. “Finally, they figured out that what they really had to do was making me sit on a bench in the hallway for six hours.”
JOCKEY RICHARD ERAMIA RIDES HAT TRICK FRIDAY – Jockey Richard Eramia, who finished 11th in the Fair Grounds standings in his first year riding locally last season, rode three winners Friday to remind local observers of his talent.
Eramia, who led the Louisiana Downs standings for much of last summer before finishing second in the final tally, won Friday’s third aboard Don Eberts’ Pretty Squall for trainer Morris Nicks, the seventh on Agave Racing Stable’s Going to the Sun for conditioner Michelle Lovell and came right back to take the eighth on Richard Ringo’s Sweet Ruston for trainer Mike Burgess.
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the nation’s third-oldest racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in
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James J. Mulvihill
Communications & Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
A Churchill Downs Incorporated Company
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