Fair Grounds 2024-25 meet will feature new faces, higher purses
Fair Grounds's 153rd Thoroughbred racing season is set to open on Friday, Nov. 22, kicking off 76 days of live racing through Sunday, March 23.
Enticed by Fair Grounds’ $8.875 million in combined stakes purses for 2024-25, turf course and road to the Kentucky Derby series, several of the sport’s top trainers will have an increased presence on the backside and two Eclipse-winning jockeys will head south looking for their first opportunity to shine in the Crescent City.
Ken McPeek, Brendan Walsh and Cherie DeVaux each have been awarded an increased number of stalls. McPeek returns to Fair Grounds after saddling the winner in the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1), the first time since 1952 that a trainer has swept both races in the same year.
The 153rd meet will continue the tradition of showcasing top talent from perennial leading trainers Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen, as well as Tom Amoss, Al Stall Jr., Joe Sharp, Dallas Stewart, Bret Calhoun and last year’s leading conditioner, Shane Wilson.
Phil Bauer and Whit Beckman will have nearly double the number of stalls from last year. Other trainers of note who will have an increased presence are Lindsay Schultz, Rob Atras, Chris Block and Tanner Tracy.
Fresh faces who did not have a string at Fair Grounds last year include Brittany Russell, Will Walden, Ignacio Correas, Linda Rice and Michael Tomlinson.
Having relocated to Kentucky’s racing circuit from New York last spring, jockey Jose Ortiz will try to replicate his Churchill Downs successes this winter in New Orleans. Boasting more than 3,000 career wins, Ortiz is one of the top riders in North America and in 2017 was decorated with the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. With wins in the 2022 Preakness (G1) and 2017 Belmont (G1), only one jewel is absent from his Triple Crown resume.
Fair Grounds will welcome back Louisiana native Brian Hernandez Jr., who secured his spot in the history books by winning both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, piloting Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna to become the 9th jockey ever to accomplish an Oaks-Derby double. Over the summer, Hernandez was selected as the 2024 Mike Venezia Memorial Award recipient for his extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship.
Winner of the 2023 Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey, Axel Concepcion will be an exciting new presence for the 153rd racing season. Joining him will be another rising star, as Jeiron Barbosa will move his tack to Fair Grounds from the Maryland circuit. Barbosa was a finalist for the apprentice Eclipse Award in 2022.
Purses increases of $325,000 are scheduled for the track's 63-race stakes program, highlighted by a boost in two road to the Derby races. The purse for the Lecomte (G3) increased to $250,000, up $50,000 from last year. The purse for the Risen Star (G2) was bumped to $500,000 from $400,000. Last year’s winner Sierra Leone went on to run second in the Kentucky Derby and later win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
In 2024, the Kentucky Derby was yet again dominated by the talent traveling through Fair Grounds’s Derby prep races, as all of the top six finishers, minus the two who shipped in from Japan, raced or trained at Fair Grounds ahead of the first Saturday in May.
The series begins at 1 1/16 miles for the Gun Runner on Dec. 21 and the Lecomte on Jan. 18. The Risen Star on Feb. 15 extends to 1 1/8 miles, and the Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 22 is a 1 3/16-mile test for the 3-year-olds.
Closing weekend of the 2024-25 meet will showcase the centennial running of the $500,000 New Orleans Classic (G2).
Regular post time for the 76-day, 2024-25 Fair Grounds racing season will be 1:45 p.m. EsT. There will be an earlier 1:00 EST first post on Thanksgiving Day; road to the Derby kickoff day, Dec. 21; road to the Derby day, Jan. 18; Louisiana Derby preview day, Feb. 15, and Louisiana Derby day, March 22.