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LOUISIANA DERBY EARLY BIRD NOMS
CLOSE MONDAY
NEW ORLEANS - Dec. 10, 2011 – Fair Grounds racing secretary Jason Boulet and
stakes coordinator Scott Jones remind horsemen that “Early Bird” nominations to
the 99th running of the Grade II Louisiana Derby – to be contested at nine
furlongs and for a purse of $1 million for the second time this year – close
this Monday, December 12.
Early bird nominations to the annual centerpiece of
the Fair Grounds meeting are $500 and also include automatic
nominations to the Grade III, $100,000 Lecomte Stakes, to be run at
one mile and 70 yards on Road to the Derby Kickoff Day Presented by
Hotel Monteleone (six stakes worth $650,000, including the Lecomte)
on Jan. 21, as well as the Grade II, $300,000 Risen Star Stakes, to
be contested at 1 1/16-miles on Louisiana Derby Preview Day
Presented by Lamarque Ford (six stakes worth $885,000, including the
Risen Star Stakes) on Feb. 25.
Last year’s Louisiana Derby winner Pants On Fire, owned by George
and Lori Hall, was an Early Bird nomination to the first
seven-figure running of the New Orleans fixture, as were Twin Creeks
Racing Stables’ Mission Impazible, Vinery Stables and Fox Hill
Farm’s Friesan Fire, Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Pyro and Michael and
Doreen Tabor’s Circular Quay, the previous Louisiana Derby winners
in the years since the Fair Grounds reopened following Hurricane
Katrina.
All but Mission Impazible ran in either the Lecomte or the Risen
Star to prepare for the Louisiana Derby, with Friesan Fire joining
Edmund Gann’s Peace Rules and William Farish III’s Line In The Sand
as the only horses to sweep all three races of the local sophomore
series.
About Fair Grounds Race Course & SlotsFair Grounds Race Course &
Slots, the nation’s third-oldest racetrack, has been in operation
since 1872. Located in New Orleans, Fair Grounds is owned by
Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN); it
also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 10 off-track
betting parlors throughout southeast Louisiana. The 140th
Thoroughbred Racing Season continues through April 1, 2012,
highlighted by the $1 million Louisiana Derby for Kentucky Derby
hopefuls on April 1. More information can be found online at
www.FairGroundsRaceCourse.com
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