Medoro crushed the field at Fair Grounds, Fair Grounds Photo
Fair Grounds Press
NEW ORLEANS — Proven winners return to the spotlight on Louisiana Derby Preview Day at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, where five of the six stakes feature past series champions, including Medoro in the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial and Usually Wrong in the $100,000 Colonel Power Stakes.
Louisiana Derby Preview Day marks a pivotal stop on the 2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby, with the Grade 2 $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star awarding qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale to the top five finishers, virtually assuring the winner of a spot in the starting gate.
First post is noon CT for Saturday’s 12-race card.
Attracting a field of nine older fillies and mares, the 1 1/16-mile turf Albert M. Stall Memorial is led by C R K Stable’s Medoro, who was tabbed the 9-5 morning-line favorite after rallying to catch race leader Cupids Crush in the stretch to win the Marie G. Krantz on the Lecomte undercard.
The Grade 3 winner trained by Peter Eurton has finished in the money in 12 of 13 career starts, including six wins and six graded-stakes placings. Jose Ortiz retains the mount.
Five of the nine entrants in the Stall are newcomers, making their first appearance in the older fillies and mares turf route series, including Klaravich Stables’ Oversubscribed (GB) and Team Valor International’s Feather Boa (SAF).
Trained by Chad Brown, Oversubscribed won November’s Forever Together Stakes at Aqueduct after a yearlong layoff. Unraced since, the multiple stakes winner will make her 5-year-old debut with Tyler Gaffalione aboard.
A Group 2 winner in South Africa, Feather Boa has come up short in her three U.S. starts for trainer Todd Pletcher. John Velazquez gets the call.
Xtreme Racing Stables’ speedster Cupids Crush returns in the Stall Memorial seeking to turn the tables on Medoro for trainer Hugh Robertson.
The Albert M. Stall Memorial is slated as Race 8 of 12 and serves as the first leg of the all-stakes Late Pick 5.
After setting a new course record in the Duncan F. Kenner, BG Stables and Selman Shaby’s Usually Wrong receives top billing for Saturday’s Colonel Power, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint that attracted a field of eight older males.
Tabbed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite, the four-time stakes winner has eight wins from 11 starts for trainer Robertino Diodoro and will be reunited with Isaac Castillo.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Built and Kat Kirk and Wayne Sanders’ Autodrive, two sharp 4-year-olds making their turf debuts, add intrigue to the Colonel Power. After earning a spot in the Kentucky Derby 151 starting gate but opting for the Pat Day Mile, Built returned in dominant fashion in December, winning a local six-furlong allowance for trainer Wayne Catalano.
A perfect 3-for-3, including a win at 5 1/2 furlongs, Autodrive has improved with each start, advancing through his first two conditions for trainer Bret Calhoun.
Other contenders include Charles Marquis’ Turf Sprint (G2) winner Bear River for trainer Keith Desormeaux, and Town and Country Racing’s homebred Mondogetsbuckets, who attracts Tyler Gaffalione. The Chris Block-trained Mondogetsbuckets finished second to Usually Wrong in the Kenner, with Bear River third.
The Colonel Power is scheduled as Race 3.
Here is the complete field for the Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes from the rail out with jockey, trainer and morning line odds:
Medoro (Ortiz, Eurton, 9-5)
Oversubscribed (Gaffalione, Brown, 5-2)
Sweet Treasure (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 6-1)
Expensive Queen (Luis Saez, Brendan Walsh, 6-1)
Lucky Speech (James Graham, Steve Asmussen, 20-1)
Sophie’s Cruiser (Isaac Castillo, Brett Brinkman, 20-1)
Mo Expectations (Axel Concepcion, Brad Cox, 8-1)
Feather Boa (Velazquez, Pletcher, 8-1)
Cupids Crush (Marcelino Pedroza Jr., Robertson, 15-1)
Here is the complete field for the Colonel Power Stakes from the rail out with jockey, trainer and morning line odds:
Can’t Deny It (Jareth Loveberry, Larry Rivelli, 12-1)
Bear River (James Graham, Desormeaux, 6-1)
Mondogetsbuckets (Gaffalione, Block, 6-1)
Demolition Duke (Jose Ortiz, Brendan Walsh, 12-1)
Usually Wrong (Castillo, Diodoro, 6-5)
Built (John Velazquez, Catalano, 6-1)
Autodrive (Brian Hernandez Jr., Calhoun, 8-1)
Champlin (Luis Saez, Greg Foley, 6-1)
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.
