Stall Doing Well With Arch Offspring

Trainer Al Stall Jr. will saddle Adele Dilschneider’s 3-year-old filly Aide in Tuesday’s $60,000 Mardi Gras Stakes at Fair Grounds, and also is planning to saddle Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s 3-year-old colt Left in the upcoming $1 million Louisiana Derby here on March 26 as the centerpiece event of the New Orleans winter Thoroughbred season.

Both Aide and Left were sired by Arch, as is the now-retired Blame – also owned by Claiborne and Dilschneider and also trained by Stall, who upset eventual Horse of the Year Zenyatta in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs last Nov. 6.

Interestingly, Aurora, the dam of Arch, died last week at Middlebrook Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, several hours after dropping an Empire Maker filly without any apparent complications.

“Fortunately, we still have Arch around,” said Stall Monday morning during training hours at Fair Grounds, “so (Aurora) will still be living on in spirit for us.”

Aurora, a daughter of Danzig out of three-time Grade I winner and 1983 2-year-old champion filly Althea, was a 23-year-old broodmare at the time of her death.

SPECIAL EARLY POST TIME OF 12:10 P.M. THIS SATURDAY AT FAIR GROUNDS 

Fair Grounds guests and fans of the Crescent City oval’s simulcast signal should make note that there will be a special early post time of 12:10 p.m. this Saturday to accommodate the 13-race program carded for the afternoon. The racing will include the $100,000 New Orleans Ladies for older females at 1 1/16 miles and the $60,000 Grindstone Stakes for 3-year-olds at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, redrawn today after being washed out on last Saturday’s card that was cancelled following Race 2.