Nobody calls New Orleans a straightforward city. The streets, many still paved in brick, hew to the Mississippi River’s serpentine path. New Orleanians don’t refer to cardinal or ordinal directions. Uptown, The Quarter, the 9th ward, by the lake – local points of reference replace north, south, east, and west. A twisted logical structure also holds sway at the old racecourse in the Mid-City neighborhood. Purses at Fair Grounds, compared to other jurisdictions, Kentucky particularly, have stagnated. A maiden-special-weight race at the 76-day meeting that begins Friday goes for $58,000, not peanuts, but also not in the same league even as Turfway Park, where maidens will run for an $80,000 pot this winter. Fair Grounds handle, while up last year, lags behind winter racing at Aqueduct, Gulfstream, and Oaklawn. Yet many of North America’s best horses – young ones, especially – will bed down on the Fair Grounds backstretch during a racing season that runs through March 23. The Kentucky Derby winner, Mystik Dan, who spent much of last winter in New Orleans, has already arrived. His trainer, Kenny McPeek, early next year will send Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna to Fair Grounds, and she, too, trained there up to her 2024 debut. Sierra Leone, who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was second in the Derby, won the Risen Star last February. Catching Freedom, fourth in the Derby, campaigned in New Orleans. East Avenue, beaten favorite after blowing the break in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is Fair Grounds-bound for trainer Brendan Walsh, and there’s a good chance he launches his 3-year-old campaign there. Jonathan’s Way, seventh in the Juvenile after impressive Kentucky wins, is expected to winter in New Orleans for trainer Phil Bauer. Both Bauer and Walsh have more Fair Grounds stalls this year than last, as does McPeek. Walsh joins several stalwart operations allotted the maximum number of stalls, as does Cherie DeVaux, whose stable has strengthened considerably during the last year. Steve Asmussen will as always feature prominently in 2- and 3-year-old racing. Tom Amoss has an especially good group of 2-year-olds, including Quickick, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. She figures to make her 3-year-old bow at the track, as does the winner of the Juvenile Fillies, Immersive, one of many promising 2-year-old fillies for trainer Brad Cox. “I think the tide’s turning for us,” racing secretary Scott Jones said. Accordingly, Fair Grounds raised the purses of two stakes leading to the March 22 Louisiana Derby. The Lecomte in January got a $50,000 boost to $250,000, while the Risen Star in February was raised from $400,000 to $500,000. The total stakes program has a value of a little less than $9 million. After a disastrous 2022-23 season, the turf course bounced back last meet and, from multiple reports, has thrived this year – a good thing, since filling dirt races at this long meet poses a challenge. Maryland queenpin Brittany Russell has Fair Grounds stalls for the first time, as does Kentucky-based Will Walden. New Yorker Linda Rice also took a handful of stalls. Recent meets have seen clutter at the top of the jockey standings: The arrival this winter of Jose Ortiz might change that. Ortiz rides opening day but will have mounts at Churchill until that meet ends Dec. 1. Churchill’s conclusion also means an influx of horses to Fair Grounds. “Once they finish it’s a whole different story here,” Jones said. The three major stakes cards will start at noon, as does the Thanksgiving program next week. Otherwise, first post is 12:45 p.m. Central, with standard race weeks either Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. The meet’s first card features two Louisiana-bred stakes, and the $100,000 Joseph R. Paluso for 2-year-olds came up aces. The seven-runner field should have Voila Magic at the head of the betting market. Trained by Asmussen, Voila Magic debuted Oct. 25 at Keeneland and won an open maiden-special weight race by 5 3/4 lengths under Ortiz, who rides the colt Friday. Voila Magic showed good speed but waited patiently for Ortiz’s cue to get serious, drawing clear after being asked despite failing to switch leads. There’s more to the Paluso. Hay Jude, trained by Amoss, debuted Oct. 25 in a Delta Downs maiden, where he took pressure while racing inside on the lead, burying his pace rivals to win off by eight lengths with a flashy 78 Beyer Speed Figure. Jareth Loveberry, one win away from leading rider last season, picks up the mount. Louisiana Jess brings a 2-for-2 record for trainer Bret Calhoun, winning the Shine Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs in a romp. He’s not been as impressive as another Louisiana-based horse, Tdz Hint of Power, who scored two muddy-track romps this summer at Louisiana Downs, the second yielding an 85 Beyer. Manama Gold, Ortiz riding for DeVaux, will go to post for the $100,000 Delmar Caldwell Memorial a shorter price than her listed 5-2. Manama Gold went 3 for 3 last winter in Dubai, raced competitively in New York stakes competition after being imported to America, and makes her first start for DeVaux in this six-furlong contest for older fillies and mares. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.