Kevin Kilroy has been our “boots on the ground” reporter from the Fair Grounds this season as he performs his duties unearthing gems on the backstretch to share with the media. He’s been a busy man this week as the Fair Grounds will play host to 8stakes races on Saturday – 4 of them graded. Kentucky Derby and Oaks hopefuls can garner plenty of points now that we have entered into the 100-40-20-10 points stratosphere.
The $1million Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby is a race ripe for a new star to shine. Asmussen trained Epicenter has become the hometown hero. He closed ’21 with a win in the Gun Runner here and he has already recorded a head-bob defeat in the Grade 3 Lecomte and went wire to wire with an easy win last out in the Grade 2 Risen Star. Asmussen could pull a Oaks-Derby double as champion Echo Zulu makes her seasonal debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 event. Kevin Kilroy is the Publicity Specialist at Fair Grounds, working with Joe Kristufek doing racing analysis, notes writing, and social media. A two-time National Horseplayers Championship qualifier, he finished 21st in 2021. He specializes in trip handicapping, creative analysis, and finding reasons a horse will improve. His love of the sport began in Chicago at Hawthorne Race Course and Arlington Park. Prior to this, he taught for fifteen years, most recently at the Kansas City Art Institute. An author of three books, his novel The Chicago Window came out in 2020 from Spuyten Duyvil Books. Follow him on Twitter/Instagram@KilroyHorseFG. At this time of the season, T.D. Thornton gives out his observations on the top Kentucky Derby contenders each week in the Thoroughbred Daily News. There is not much in the world of racing that Thornton can’t speak pointedly about. He and John will discuss a myriad of topics leading up to Thornton’s latest Derby list. Here is how he describes himself and some of the books he has authored and positions he has held. I'm a Boston-based writer who aspires to give a voice to dark, edgy characters lurking far beneath the radar of mainstream media. Gamblers, grifters, hustlers, prize fighters and racetrackers are among my most appealing characters, and I have a keen interest in writing about “low” subjects with a literary twist. My Adventures with Your Money: George Graham Rice and the Golden Age of the Con Artist details the flair and showmanship of America’s greatest swindler. His first book should be on every racing lover’s reading list. Not by a Long Shot—A Season at a Hard-Luck Horse Track, chronicled a year at a blue-collar racetrack. In 2008 Long Shot won the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award and was named a Highly Recommended finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award.