Maycocks Bay seeks more fun at the fair in G3 Louisiana Stakes

Maycocks Bay aims for a third straight win at Fair Grounds, USA, on his belated Graded Stakes debut in the G3 Louisiana Stakes on Saturday, 18 January.

The Michael Stidham-trained colt was set to test his Kentucky Derby credentials after taking an allowance optional claimer at the course by nearly 11 lengths a year ago.

However, he was a late scratching from February’s G3 Southwest Stakes – won by eventual Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan – after contracting pneumonia.

Maycocks Bay made a winning return to action in December, comfortably scoring by a length and a half in another allowance optional claimer.

Michael Banahan, Director of Bloodstock, Godolphin USA, said: “Maycocks Bay has trained well following his comeback win and this has been his target since. It’s a quite a competitive race, but it will tell us if he can step up and compete in Graded company. Mike is optimistic that he will acquit himself well and prove that he belongs at this level. We are hopeful that he will be in the mix at the business end of the race.”

Wadsworth goes for a third Stakes win on turf on the same card’s Colonel E R Bradley Stakes, with the Brad Cox-trained five-year-old having annexed the American Derby and Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby in 2023.