This should be a showcase week for the Fair Grounds.
Saturday’s 101st running of the Louisiana Derby includes a number of Kentucky Derby contenders. The Fair Grounds Oaks, also set for Saturday, should produce the favorite for the Kentucky Oaks, the first leg of the Triple Crown for fillies. And the return of 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice highlights an extraordinary field for the Louisiana Handicap, yet another major event on the Saturday calendar.
Instead, these are troubled times for the Gentilly racetrack — troubled enough to lend serious doubt to the Fair Grounds’ ability to maintain its first-rate reputation, especially when thoroughbred racing is struggling nationwide to at least stabilize a declining fan base.