Derby Trail heads to New Orleans for 110th Louisiana Derby

After a one-week hiatus on the Derby trail, the Fair Grounds in New Orleans will be the site of the first 100-point race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby to be held in North America.

The $1 million Grade 2 Louisiana Derby attracted a field of 12, and the race will be televised live in a one-hour broadcast on CNBC and Peacock at 6 p.m. EDT.  The Louisiana Derby begins three consecutive Saturday afternoons with Kentucky Derby prep races coverage across NBC, CNBC and Peacock, continuing with the Florida Derby on April 1, and the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

Exactly six weeks ahead of the 149th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 6, the Louisiana Derby will provide Derby qualifying points on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale for the top-five finishers.

Two-time graded stakes winner Instant Coffee (2-1) is the morning-line favorite, and is the third-ranked 3-year-old in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) poll.

The son of Bolt d’Oro will have jockey Luis Saez aboard the favorite, who will leave out of gate No. 2 for trainer Brad Cox.

The 110th edition of the race will be contested over 1 3/16 miles, the longest of any prep race to date and the same distance as the Preakness Stakes.

Here’s a capsule look at the entries for the Louisiana Derby – post position, horse (trainer, jockey, ML odds, Derby points in parentheses):

Louisiana Derby – (Race 12 – Fair Grounds, 1 3/16-miles, post time: 6:44 p.m. EDT)

1 – Shopper’s Revenge (Asmussen, Santana Jr., 12-1). Son of Tapit has run decent in three career efforts, but steps up in class to take on this group. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen won last year’s edition with Epicenter and has one of his top jocks in Ricardo Santana Jr. traveling from Oaklawn to ride. Sharp workout over the surface last week says this one is one to keep an eye on.

2 – Instant Coffee (Cox, Saez, 2-1, 32 points). Skipped the Risen Star, the traditional prep for the Louisiana Derby, to point here. A fourth or fifth-place finish should get him to Louisville. Draws inside so he should be able to find favorable positioning early. Third-place finisher in the Lecomte, which set up perfectly for him, came back to win the Rebel. The one to beat.

3 – Curly Jack (Amoss, Morales, 12-1, 17 points). Hometown trainer Tom Amoss sends the son of Good Magic to try to rebound from a poor effort in the Risen Star. Sits in 20th position on the Derby leaderboard, so a top-three finish would put him in a decent spot. Ran well last time he came in second off the layoff at Churchill Downs, so opportunity for improvement is there. In the hunt.

4 – Sun Thunder (McPeek, B. Hernandez, 5-1, 24 Derby points). Second-place finisher in the Risen Star behind Angel of Empire sits 11th on the leaderboard and is another looking to find a spot in the Run for the Roses with a big effort. Son of Into Mischief stepped up in a big way after a fourth-place finish in the Southwest at Oaklawn. Veteran rider Brian Joseph Hernandez is aboard, and horse seems to take to the Fair Grounds track. Contender.

5 – Disarm (Asmussen, Rosario, 10-1). Star jockey Joel Rosario flies in to ride the son of Gun Runner for Asmussen. Second off the layoff, he stretches out to try two turns for the first time – which is taboo in this corner. Hard to look away from the breeding as he should relish the longer distance. On the fence, but the price is tempting.

6 – Kingsbarns (Pletcher, Prat, 6-1). Lightly raced son of Uncle Mo looks the part for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who loves giving his young 3-year-olds a shot in the limelight. Won going away at Tampa after a solid maiden-breaker at Gulfstream Park. Tough to discount an undefeated Pletcher horse who looks to have the stamina. Taking a flyer on him as the pick.

7 – Cagliostro (DeVaux, Torres, 12-1). Trainer Cherie DeVaux is new to the Derby trail, but sends a promising son of Upstart to the gate after being edged out in an allowance dueling with Denington, who will break further outside. Out of a Hard Spun dam, he should be able to handle the extra distance coming in third off the layoff.

8 – Single Ruler (Desormeaux, Cohen, 15-1). Trainer Keith Desormeaux has advanced one colt out of the Rebel to the Derby in Confidence Game. He’ll try to go 2-for-2 with the son of Empire Maker. Another horse with the pedigree to stay on, but rider David Cohen has been struggling at the Fair Grounds meet to date. Tough ask. 

9 – Tapit’s Conquest (Cox, Franco, 10-1, 10 Derby points). Hard-knocking son of Tapit was a lot of pundits’ choice in the Risen Star, but he finished a level fourth. Comes in third off the layoff for Brad Cox, who will try to surprise with this $350K purchase with Manny Franco in the irons. Willing to give him another chance.

10 – Denington (McPeek, Alvarado, 12-1, 8 Derby points). Came back from the fourth-place finish in the Lecomte to win an allowance impressively. We’ll see how good that race shapes up on Saturday with the top two running back here. Junior Alvarado ships in to take the mount from Corey Lanerie for Ken McPeek. Dangerous.

11 – Jace’s Road (Cox, Geroux, 12-1, 15 Derby points). Badly needs Derby points to have a shot at heading to Louisville. The third Cox horse in the race drew outside for West Point and has been off since the Southwest in late January. Cox must think enough of the son of Quality Road to give him another shot after his week effort at Oaklawn. Will wait this one out.

12 – Baseline Beater (Pessin, Lanerie, 20-1). Longest shot in the field drew the far outside post for trainer Corey Lanerie, who has had a decent meet to date in New Orleans. This one is in deeper waters coming off a maiden win in his fifth career race. Pass.

Post Time outlook: 1 – Kingsbarns, 2 –Instant Coffee, 3 – Tapit’s Conquest; 4 – Curly Jack

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets@EquiSpace.