Epicenter Installed As 7-5 Louisiana Derby Favorite
At 0h14, on March 25, 2022 • By FAIR GROUNDS
Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Epicenter will be heavily favored when he goes postward Saturday against eight rivals in hopes of winning a race on the local Road to the Kentucky Derby here at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
To accomplish this feat in the $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) the improving son of Not This Time will have to navigate 1 3/16 miles–the longest domestic prep on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
“First, I want to say how pleased I am with the distance of the series (Lecomte, Risen Star, Louisiana Derby) for the 3-year-olds here,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “It was important for him (Epicenter) to start at the mile then progress like he has through the longer distances and now we get to this race and the mile and three-sixteenth could be a separator. He has progressed well through each of these steps and his progress has been very encouraging up to this point and he will just have to prove it again on Saturday.”
Epicenter has thrived at Fair Grounds this winter, winning the Gun Runner Stakes on December 26 in his final start as a 2-year-old before losing by a determined head in the Lecomte Stakes (G3). He parlayed that effort into an easy front-running score last month in the Risen Star (G2) presented by Lamarque Ford under Saturday’s rider Joel Rosario. The duo will leave from post six.
