Fair Grounds: Best Actor returns to stakes company in Mineshaft

Best Actor, who won the Grade 3 Smarty Jones in 2022, returns to stakes company as the 3-1 morning line favorite in the Grade 3, $250,000 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, the 39th running of the Mineshaft attracted a field of nine older males and will go to post at 5:50 p.m. EST as race 11. Headlined by the $400,000 Risen Star (G2) and $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2), first post for the 14-race card is 1 p.m. EDT.

Trained by Brad Cox for Gary and Mary West, Best Actor enters the Mineshaft not having raced since wiring a Churchill Downs allowance field on Nov. 23. Firing two successive local bullet workouts on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, the 5-year-old horse will see Flavien Prat return to the irons, having been aboard for two successive wins.

“He’s doing great,” Cox said. “Hopefully it’s a good spot for him. Hopefully he breaks running, establishes early position, and keeps rolling. He is on it right now, working really well.”

Finishing sixth in the Louisiana Stakes (G3) last out when making his return to the races after a 6-month layoff, Smile Happy entered the Mineshaft for trainer Ken McPeek, seeking a return to the dazzling form he showed when winning the Alysheba (G2) last May.

“He goes back to Ocala (between races),” McPeek said. “He trains better at my farm, Silverleaf Hills Training Center, and he’s had two works since. He was just short in the last race. It seems like we’re getting an idea of how to deal with him. On fitness alone he should improve. It's a little easier race than the last one without Saudi Crown.”

Red Route One kicked off his 4-year-old campaign for trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds by finishing a game second in the Louisiana Stakes. The West Virginia Derby (G3) winner again draws the rail and will be guided by Joel Rosario.

“I was very pleased with what he showed (in the Louisiana), and I thought that was an extremely solid run from him,” Asmussen said. “We feel that he will do better when races stretch out. He looks a little faster as a 4-year-old than he was as a 3-year-old. In his first race as a 4-year-old it definitely looked like he is capable of a more tactful race.”

Another dangerous prospect entered in the race is owner/trainer Neil Pessin’s 2023 Louisiana Stakes winner Happy American. Exiting a third-place finish in this year’s edition, the 6-year-old gelding with a dangerous late kick will see Jareth Loveberry back in the saddle Saturday.