Bodog Beat

Grasshopper (right) fell short against Street Sense in the Travers Stakes last year. (AP Images)

Everything started looking a little brighter for trainer Neil Howard and the owners of Grasshopper when Curlin was in the air and on his way to Dubai. If Curlin had stayed at Fair Grounds, he certainly would have been favorite in last month's Mineshaft Handicap and on Saturday in the Grade 2, $500,000 New Orleans Handicap.

"We weren't going to run off the bench against Curlin," Howard said at his barn the other morning. "I don't know what we were going to do, but it wasn't going to be that."

Howard needed to confirm Curlin was in fact on his way to Dubai, so he could make his decision on what to do with entering Grasshopper in last month’s Mineshaft.

"I followed that van to the airport to make sure he left," Howard said, joking.

With Curlin on the other side of the world, Grasshopper went off as the 7-5 favorite in last month's Mineshaft, and he scored an easy 2.5-length victory. Most probably he’ll be one of the strongly favored Saturday in the 83rd running of the Louisiana Derby, which is offering a $200,000-guaranteed pick-four wager at Fair Grounds.

"I was thrilled with his last race," Howard said. "He ran very well, and it wasn't an overly stressful race on him."
Grasshopper, 4, is best known for finishing second to Street Sense in last year's Travers Stakes. It was after another second, in the following month's Super Derby, that Grasshopper got an extended vacation that lasted until the Mineshaft.

"The whole Travers scenario might have taken the starch out of him," Howard said. "We gave him a busman's holiday – light training, walk for a few weeks. Looking back now, I'd like to think it paid off."

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