Barn Tour: Faucheux pursues 3rd Fair Grounds training title

Ron Faucheux isn't a graded-stakes kind of guy.

Not that he's never had a graded winner. That happened with Gantry in the Smile Sprint (G2) at Gulfstream in 2012.

But in the last 10 years, he's found a lane he likes and he's happy to stay in it.

"We've just committed to strictly staying in Louisiana,” Faucheux told Horse Racing Nation Wednesday. “And it's worked out really well for us. This is where I personally want to be and my assistants. And I have two children that I get to be with year-round. I get to do what I love to do and do it where I want to do it, so it's a win-win for me.”

Those wins include the training titles at Fair Grounds the last two meets, finishing ahead of Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen in the win column, if not the earnings column.

Staying in Louisiana has another advantage.

“I get to watch the same horses run year-round,” Faucheux said. “So, absolutely, we get a feel for that. And we have a good understanding of the condition books written at the four tracks in Louisiana.

“We kind of approach summer racing – the money's not as good, so we take it a little bit lighter on the horses. And at that time, we'll give some horses some time to freshen up and have them ready to go for Fair Grounds, where we kind of have everything clicking on all cylinders. We try to have everything ready to run when Fair Grounds opens up for us.”

And his success has brought growth. Faucheux said the 65 horses in the barn are the most he’s ever had, and he has the most 2-year-olds ever as well – 18 to 20.

With the Fair Grounds meet beginning Friday, Faucheux provided a rundown of his most promising runners for the latest feature in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Bertie’s Galaxy, a 6-year-old gelding who is 3-for-4 this year, is entered to run Saturday in the Monte Man Stakes. That’s significant for a couple of reasons. The black-type race formerly was called the Louisiana Champions Day Sprint, and Monte Man – trained by Faucheux – won it the last two years.

Last year, Faucheux said, “it was Monte Man and Bertie's Galaxy in a head-to-head duel and down the lane. Monte Man got the best of him, and they went down there in 1:09 and change. And that was Monte Man's last career start. He turned into a 9-year-old, so we retired him. And we think Bertie's Galaxy – Monte Man kind of passed the torch to him off in that race, you know? So we're excited to obviously have a race named after a horse that we trained. And to have the possible horse to beat in that race, it's very exciting for us.”

Fame Feather, a 7-year-old mare, is 2-for-4 this year and finished 10th last out in the Louisiana Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in August. She is entered in Sunday’s Happy Ticket Stakes.

“Fame Feather, she's a barn favorite. She's really done most of her running on the turf. We were fortunate to win Legends night with her (in June). And she didn't run as good last time we ran her. She runs really good fresh. … She's training really good. She's probably a little bit better on the turf, but we're excited to see her run.”

And now for the 2-year-olds. “We've never had 2-year-olds that are as good as they are currently,” Faucheux said.

He’s “really, really high on” Not On Herb, a son of First Samurai who won his debut last month. “We think he could definitely move forward off that last race. He'll run this Saturday … in the 2-year-old (Joseph R. Peluso Memorial) stakes. So we're thrilled about having him and he could be a really, really nice horse, I think, for us.”

He’s also “really high” on Star Moment, a daughter of Star Guitar who sold for $110,000 at the Ocala 2-year-olds in training sale, and on Allnight Moonlight, “a big, good-looking 2-year-old by Ransom the Moon.” Faucheux is looking for Thanksgiving week starts for both of them.