Photo:

Jetta Vaughns / Coady Photography

With over $1.1 million in career earnings, Gigante enters the Grade 3, $175,000 Fair Grounds Stakes presented by Horse Racing Nation looking to stay perfect in the older turf-route stakes series at Fair Grounds. Slated as race 12 of 14, the 1 1/8-mile Fair Grounds attracted a field of 10 males.

Gigante, a Grade 2 winner, has been unstoppable so far this meet. Victorious across a firm turf course in the Buddy Diliberto and a sloppy main track in the Colonel E.R. Bradley, the 5-year-old has flaunted his surface versatility for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Made the 7-2 lukewarm favorite in the Fair Grounds, on Saturday Gigante will need to prove he can get nine panels as all eight wins have come going between 1 and 1 1/16 miles. The Virginia-bred will be making his first start for new owners, as the locally stabled Not This Time colt was sold on Jan. 31 for $610,000 to Clark Brewster and L and N Racing in a one-horse flash sale on Fasig-Tipton Digital. Aboard for both stakes scores, Jose Ortiz will break Gigante from post 2.

What Say Thee will make the first start of his 7-year-old campaign for trainer Mike Maker after scratching out of the off-the-turf Bradley. Claimed by Maker at the end of 2023, the son of Sea the Stars rattled off five wins as a 6-year-old for his new conditioner, including the Texas Turf Classic. Aboard for four of those victories, Luis Saez will reunite with What Say Thee who drew the rail.

Other logical contenders include two lightly raced 5-year-olds from dangerous connections, as both Taking Candy and Unit Economics enter the Fair Grounds fresh for trainers Cherie DeVaux and Chad Brown, respectively.