The stats you need to know ahead of the Louisiana Derby
The Road to the Kentucky Derby steps up a gear on Saturday with the Louisiana Derby at The Fair Grounds, with a number of horses looking to book their place at the first Triple Crown race on May 1.
The featured Thoroughbred race this weekend on The Road to the Kentucky Derby is the Grade 2 $1,000,000 Louisiana Derby at The Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Saturday. It awards points on a 100-40-20-10 scale and will most likely send multiple entries into the Triple Crown's first race on May 1.
Track history
It holds one meet a year, running from Thanksgiving to the last weekend in March. The current meet will conclude on Sunday, March 28. The Fair Grounds hosts three Kentucky Derby qualifying races: the 10-4-2-1 Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes, the 50-20-10-5 Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes, and the Louisiana Derby.
Top trainers
Hall of Famer Steven Asmussen leads in earnings for the meet with $1,560,150, just ahead of Brad Cox, whose horses have amassed $1,520,890. Cox has the highest winning percentage, along with Thomas Amoss at 26%. The trainer with the most victories since November 26 is Ron Faucheux with 35. He also leads in top-three finishes with 86.
Jockey notes
The most efficient jockey at The Fair Grounds is Florent Geroux, who splits time between multiple tracks, primarily for Brad Cox-trained horses. He has won 27% of his races in New Orleans and gets his mounts into the top three an impressive 65% of the time. Geroux is the jockey for Mandaloun and will be looking to add to his $1,885,224 in purse winnings in just 140 starts at the track.
Midnight Bourbon is ridden by Joseph Talamo, whose home track is Oaklawn Park. He has just 21 races under his belt at The Fair Grounds with just one other win besides Midnight Bourbon's victory in the Lecomte Stakes.
The other two favorites in the Kentucky Derby, Hot Rod Charlie and Proxy will have Joel Rosario and John Velazquez onboard, respectively. Neither jockey has much experience at the track, giving Geroux and Mandaloun a distinct advantage on Saturday.