Fair Grounds Stakes

Having already saddled a pair of debut-winning 3-year-olds earlier on the program, Cherie DeVaux completed a hat-trick of victories when Lael Stables' Taking Candy came running in the final furlong to post his first stakes success in Saturday's GIII Fair Grounds Stakes in the Big Easy. Second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the GIII Saranac Stakes at three in 2023 and runner-up in the 2024 Bernard Baruch Stakes, both at Saratoga, Taking Candy was lasst seen finishing a running-on third to What Say...

Bentley Combs, who has served as an assistant to trainer Chad Brown since last March, has resumed training on his own and his new solo operation will have its first starter when he saddles City of Clouds (City of Light) in the ninth race Friday at Churchill Downs. Combs ran his own barn from 2017 to early 2024 after working his way up to assistant trainer for Dallas Stewart with horses that included Forever Unbridled, Tom's Ready and Unbridled Forever. While training on his own, Combs won a record three...