Grade 1 winner Therapist leads Claiming Crown Emerald field

Eleven turf routers were entered for the $150,000 Claiming Crown Emerald, led by multiple graded-stakes winner Therapist.

Saturday’s 25th annual Claiming Crown day will feature eight races for hard-knocking horses from across the nation. It returns to Fair Grounds for the first time since 2011. The Emerald, run at 1 1/16 miles on turf, will go as Race 9 of 11 with a post time of 5:45 p.m. EST.

Before Michael Dubb’s 8-year-old son of Freud won the Grade 2 Pan American (G2) and the United Nations (G1), he was dropped in for a tag on three occasions from September to December of 2022. Each time he was claimed. Dubb and trainer Mike Maker saw Therapist’s latent abilities to run longer distances and pulled the trigger on Dec. 30 for $50,000.

However traumatic it could be for other connections to see the New York-bred millionaire in a race reserved for “blue collar” Thoroughbreds, solace can be found in the fact that Therapist struggles to get 1 1/16 miles, having only two wins in 15 tries. Florent Geroux will bring the 9-5 morning-line favorite out of gate 11.

Mike Maker has three other entries besides Therapist. They are Tiberius Mercurius, who has fired blanks at the Emerald distance but has established form that rivals the field; the 5-year-old synthetic specialist Race Craft, who has one win on grass; and the front-runner Tatanka, who will make his first start from Maker’s barn after September’s claim.