Hit Show returns in the Mineshaft, Fair Grounds Photo
Fair Grounds Press
NEW ORLEANS — A pair of accomplished graded stakes winners will make their seasonal bows on the Louisiana Derby Preview Day undercard, as multimillionaires Hit Show and Brilliant Berti lead competitive fields in two Grade 3 events for older horses at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
The Grade 3 $250,000 Mineshaft Stakes presented by Hagyard at 1 1/16 miles drew seven males and is led by the 9-5 morning line favorite Hit Show. The 6-year-old horse trained by Brad Cox for Wathnan Racing will begin his campaign where he has proven graded success, with a victory in the 2025 Louisiana Stakes (G3). A Kentucky Derby alumnus, Hit Show’s career is highlighted by a victory in the 2025 Dubai World Cup (G1) at Meydan, where he rallied from off the pace to defeat Mixto.
A multiple graded stakes winner in the United States, Hit Show has captured the Hagyard Fayette Stakes at Keeneland in both 2024 (G2) and 2025 (G3), the 2024 Lukas Classic (G2), and the 2024 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes (G3). His career record stands at 11 wins from 23 starts, with earnings exceeding $8.9 million. Florent Geroux has the call.
Hit Show, known for his strong late kick, will have to get by Accelerize, the reigning Louisiana Stakes winner, who returns in the Mineshaft for trainer Todd Pletcher. A rising 4-year-old colt owned by Spendthrift Farm and Repole Stable, Accelerize has won three of four career starts. In the Louisiana, the colt set a pressured pace and battled back after being headed to defeat odds-on favorite Just a Touch by a neck. John Velazquez has the mount on the 4-1 morning-line choice.
The Mineshaft is scheduled as Race 9 of 12, kicking off an all-graded-stakes Late Pick 4 that concludes with the Grade 2 $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes.
Going 1 1/8 miles on turf, the Grade 3 $175,000 Fair Grounds Stakes presented by Horse Racing Nation attracted a field of 10 males, most notably being Brilliant Berti, who boasts more than $2.4 million in career earnings and will be making the first start of his 5-year-old campaign.
Trained by Cherie DeVaux for Klein Racing, Brilliant Berti’s most significant victory came in the 2025 Wise Dan Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs, his fifth career stakes win. The horse, by Noble Mission out of Believe in Bertie, earned his first graded stakes victory in the 2024 Bryan Station Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. His graded resume also includes a third-place finish in the 2025 Turf Mile (G1), a runner-up effort in the 2024 Secretariat Stakes (G2) and a second in the 2025 Arlington Stakes (G3). Brian Hernandez Jr., aboard for all seven of Brilliant Berti’s victories, retains the mount.
Seven of the older males who competed in the local Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes are signed on for the Fair Grounds Stakes, including the top four finishers, led by Kupuna. A 7-year-old gelding trained by Norm Casse and owned by Flying P Stable, Kupuna has successfully transitioned from dirt to turf, winning two of three grass starts and finishing second in the other, a narrow defeat in the Diliberto Memorial.
The Fair Grounds Stakes is scheduled as Race 10, immediately following the Mineshaft. First post Saturday is noon CT.
The complete field for the Mineshaft Stakes (G3), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer and morning-line odds:
Duke of Duval (Luis Saez, Steve Asmussen, 8-1)
Accelerize (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher, 4-1)
Cadet Corps (Paco Lopez, Kelly Breen, 6-1)
Moonlight (Jose Ortiz, Chris Block, 6-1)
Time to Win (Tyler Gaffalione, Chad Brown, 4-1)
Hit Show (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 9-5)
Stowaway (Jareth Loveberry, Whit Beckman, 8-1)
The complete field for the Fair Grounds Stakes (G3), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer and morning-line odds:
Sand Pipes (Paco Lopez, Lindsay Schultz, 12-1)
Brilliant Berti (Brian Hernandez Jr., Cherie DeVaux, 4-1)
Point Proven (Jareth Loveberry, David Terre, 30-1)
Gigante (James Graham, Steve Asmussen, 20-1)
Cameo Performance (Ben Curtis, Brendan Walsh, 6-1)
Montador (Tyler Gaffalione, Mike Stidham, 6-1)
Kupuna (Luis Saez, Norm Casse, 3-1)
Idratherbeblessed (Marcelino Pedroza Jr., Chris Hartman, 12-1)
Lagynos (Jose Ortiz, Steve Asmussen, 7-2)
Agate Road (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher, 12-1)
Live racing this week at Fair Grounds will be conducted Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 12–14, with the track dark Sunday, Feb. 15, before resuming for the traditional Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras programs.
