Hofburg to get started again in Fair Grounds’ Mineshaft Stakes

Hofburg, Juddmonte Farms’ homebred stakes winner with a stop-and-start history of racing, will get going again next Saturday in Fair Grounds’ Grade 3, $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes.

The Bill Mott-trained 5-year-old was last seen at the races winning a July 18 Saratoga allowance that figured to springboard him back to the Grade 1 level. But a series of physical setbacks led to another layoff, with that return race his only start since October of 2018.

This time, the son of Tapit carries a steady work tab at the Payson Park Training Center in Florida into the 1 1/16-mile Mineshaft, a race filled out by stout local horses.

Hofburg, who drew post No. 6 in a field of 11, will have Joel Rosario aboard looking to add to his Curlin Stakes score as a 3-year-old at Saratoga. Earlier that season, he wheeled back from a maiden win to run second in the Florida Derby (G1), plus finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes.

Heading up Hofburg’s competition at Fair Grounds is Silver Dust, a 6-year-old Tapit gelding who continues to improve for trainer Bret Calhoun. A headcase earlier in his career, Silver Dust has settled down and delivered a dominant victory Jan. 18, winning the Louisiana Stakes (G3) by a widening 4 1/4 lengths.

Pirate’s Punch also looks formidable exiting a Jan. 16 Fair Grounds allowance in which the newly turned 4-year-old son of Shanghai Bobby exploded to an 11 1/2-length win. Trainer Grant Forster had hoped the gelding was capable of this “next jump,” which resulted in a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Sleepy Eyes Todd, a 4-year-old by Paddy O’Prado, may fly under the radar into the Mineshaft. He didn’t fire Jan. 26 on the Sam Houston turf when 10th in the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3). Two starts back, however, he submitted career-best numbers over Remington Park’s dirt when winning the Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial Stakes.

Cutting Humor, Mocito Rojo and Blended Citizen bring back class to the Mineshaft as Grade 3 winners, while the $2.6 million yearling Gun It is aiming for his first stakes victory in this event.

The Mineshaft leads into the local New Orleans Stakes (G2) — previously a handicap — on March 21. Post time for the Mineshaft is 5:01 p.m. ET as Race 9 on the card capped by Kentucky Derby and Oaks preps.

The program’s other graded event for older horses, the Fair Grounds Stakes (G3) on turf, will be led by the likes of Synchrony and Canadian classic winner Tone Broke.