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,
mark valeski, Mr. Bowling entry favored in
14-horse field for 99th $1 million louisiana derby cigar street
By Graham Ross, Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS (Monday, March 26, 2012) – Brereton Jones’s highly-regarded Mark Valeski, second by a nose in Fair Grounds’ Grade II Risen Star Stakes, will run as part of a coupled wagering interest with that same owner’s Mr. Bowling, hero of the Crescent City oval’s Grade III Lecomte Stakes, in Sunday’s 99th running of the $1 million Louisiana Derby. Together, the two Larry Jones-trained sophomores have been installed as the 2-1 morning line choice in the centerpiece event of the
The 1 1/8-mile Grade II Louisiana Derby, as always a significant gauge for Triple Crown candidates, will be contested as one of 14 races – seven of which are stakes – slated for April 1 when Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots brings down the curtain on its 2011-2012 meeting.
Mark Valeski’s game second-place run to Let’s Go Racing El Padrino in the $300,000 Risen Star Feb. 25 allows him to be considered the stronger half of the Jones’ entry. El Padrino went on to be third choice among individual horses at the closing of the second Kentucky Derby Future Wager days later. Nevertheless, Mr. Bowling has won twice going two turns – a presumed handicapping advantage that still eludes Mark Valeski.
Defending Fair Grounds jockey champion and current leading rider Rosie Napravnik is named astride Mark Valeski while seven-time Fair Grounds jockey champion Robby Albarado is listed aboard Mr. Bowling.
Jake Ballis and Rashard Lewis’s Cigar Street, who broke his maiden with an eye-popping 13 3/4-length tally in his last start here March 10, has been pegged as the 7-2 second choice in the morning line among the 14 horses entered in the Louisiana Derby. Veteran reinsman Shaun Bridgmohan, Fair Grounds’ jockey champion two seasons ago, has been engaged to handle the Steve Margolis-trained Cigar Street, a son of 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense who will be making only the third start of his career in Fair Grounds’ showcase race.
West Coast invader Rousing Sermon, owned Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams and conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, will arrive from
Zayat Stables’ Z Dager, runner-up in the $175,000 Lecomte Stakes and third in the Risen Star, is rated next in the early line at 8-1. The consistent son of Mizzen Mast is conditioned by 10-time Fair Grounds trainer champion and two-time Louisiana Derby winner Steve Asmussen and will be ridden by native Louisianan Shane Sellers, reemerging as one of the nation’s elite jockeys after several years of retirement.
Completing the field for the 2012 Louisiana Derby, listed in order of morning-line odds with their respective jockey assignments, is Jerry Namy’s Shared Property, Leandro Goncalves (10-1); WinStar Farm’s Windsurfer, John Velazquez (12-1); Donegal Racing’s Finnegans Wake, Corey Lanerie (15-1); Jim Tafel’s Afford, James Graham (15-1); Gary and Mary West’s Fire Alarm, Miguel Mena (20-1); Casner Racing’s Arm Force, Julien Leparoux (20-1); Mike Munna’s Comisky’s Humor, Richard Eramia (20-1); West Point Thoroughbreds’ Flashy Sunrise, Rajiv Maragh (30-1); and Raut LLC’s Hero of Order, Eddie Martin, Jr. (30-1).
ADDITONAL
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
1751 Gentilly Boulevard,
504.948.1233 [office]
504.481.8770 [cell]
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