Discreetly Mine, winner of the Risen Star Stakes, was installed Monday as the early favorite for Saturday's Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds Race Course.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and slated to be ridden by Javier Castellano, the colt drew the seventh post position and was the top choice at 5-2 in a field of 13 3-year-olds.
``You have to give credit as they always do to the most recent performance of horses, so Discreetly Mine being favored is certainly warranted,'' said Tom Amoss, trainer of 6-1 fourth choice Ron the Greek.
A Little Warm, second in the Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park, drew the fifth post position and was the second choice at 4-1, followed by Risen Star fourth-place finisher Drosselmeyer in the 13th post at 5-1.
The $750,000 Grade II Louisiana Derby, the purse for which has been bumped up from $600,000 a year ago, will be the richest race ever run in the state, Fair Grounds officials said. Moved back from its traditional date earlier in March, the 1 1/8-mile race also will be the last major prep race for the Kentucky Derby, which will be run five weeks later.
The rest of the field for the 97th Louisiana Derby includes Mission Impazible, also trained by Pletcher and drawing the second post with 8-1 morning line odds; Fly Down in the third post at 8-1; The Program in the fourth post at 10-1; Stay Put in the ninth post at 10-1; Island Soul in the eighth post at 20-1; Hotep in the first post at 30-1; Wow Wow Wow in the 10th post at 30-1; Mister Marti Gras in the 11th post at 30-1; and Backtrack in the 12th post at 30-1.
Although Stay Put finished a disappointing fifth and Ron the Greek sixth in the Risen Star, trainers for both horses said their colts were hampered by a relatively slow pace in that race that worked against the best closers.
Stay Put ``had a lot to overcome with a slow pace,'' trainer Steve Margolis said. ``He's trained really well since. With a little more distance, we're hopeful we can run a good race.''
Amoss said the pace of the 1 1-16-mile Risen Star ``was so pedestrian that no one could close.''
``If everybody conserves energy to the end, the guys that got the advantage over the closers are going to win,'' Amoss said. ``But this race is different. ... The Louisiana Derby is a mile and 1/8, which is more distance than a lot of these horses have gone. In horse races, 1-16 of a mile is a lot.''
In late January, Ron the Greek won the Grade III Lecomte Stakes, the first of a three-race series at the Fair Grounds for 3-year-old Kentucky Derby hopefuls.
Amoss predicted the Louisiana Derby will have a fast pace because of the speed and style shown by a number of the horses entered.
``The pace is going to be hot. I see some new entrants in here that like to have the front,'' Amoss said. ``The leaders will falter at the end and the closers are going to have the advantage.''
