Fair Grounds 🏇🏾// Sat., Feb. 14, 2026

Happy Valentine's Day & National Organ Donor Day! ❤️

We took a few weeks off from full cards as we had multiple prep races to handicap and felt it was best to put more effort into those. However, with this loaded card today from Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, LA, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cap the whole thing.

This is the first major Derby and Oaks prep where the winner could be in the starting gate in May even if they don’t run another prep. While it’s highly unlikely the top horses in today’s races will skip all remaining preps before early May, a top-two finish here could still alter how the trainer approaches workouts and how hard they want the horse to run in its next outing.

Speaking of early opportunities to get into the Derby starting gate, Mr. W. has a nice note to add for today: “Only 17 women have trained horses in the Kentucky Derby’s nearly 151-year history, with none yet winning the Run for the Roses. Shelley Riley holds the record for the highest finish by a female trainer, taking second place with Casual Lies in 1992. Mary Hirsch was the first woman to saddle a Derby horse in 1937.”

He is alluding to the fact that trainer Cherie DeVaux has a chance to become the 18th female trainer to saddle a horse in the Derby if Golden Tempo can be a top finisher in today’s race.

Today’s card has 12 total races: six stakes races, an Oaks prep, and a Derby prep. The last two races of the day will make up the Doubling Down contest for this week. It’s a free contest with real prizes. If you want to know more about races 11 and 12, see our notes below our top picks.

Today’s weather is going to be up and down, with highs in the low 70s, cloudy skies, and the potential for rain toward the end of the card. The track will be fast and the turf will be firm to open the day, so we’re looking forward to a great day of racing.

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🏇Road to the KY Derby and KY Oaks 🏇

"Each year 20 horses have the once in a lifetime chance to run in the Kentucky Derby. To earn a spot in the starting gate, they must travel along the Road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of designated races at tracks across the country and around the world. Points are awarded to the top five finishers in each race. The 20 horses with the most points will earn a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May."

-From our friends @ kentuckyderby.com

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Need help picking winners? We've got you covered! Our (Always Free) Lundin Line's top picks and best bets are below. We use them to help narrow the field while putting our tickets together. The first post will be here soon, so don't be late -

It's time to get #InTheMoney! 💰💰💰

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Fair Grounds 🏇🏾 // Sat., Feb. 14th, 2026

First Post @ 12:00 CT / 10:00 PT

R1: 3-6-8-7

R2: 1-7-2-4

R3Ⓢ: 5⭑-1-4-7

R4: 6-1-9-10

R5: 1-12-15(AE)-7-3

R6: 9-5-7-12

R7: 2-10-4-1

R8Ⓢ: 1⭑-4-2-8

R9Ⓢ: 5-6-3

R10Ⓢ: 2-9-6-7

🏇R11Ⓢ/KOP:

Finky: 3-5-6-2

W: 3-1-5-6

🏇R12Ⓢ/KDP

Finky: 4-7-2-8

W: 4-2-7-1

🏇 = Featured Race(s)

⭑Best Bet(s)

R3: Usually Wrong (#5)

R8: Medoro (#1)

Ⓢtakes Races

R3: 100K Colonel Power S.

5 1/2 Furlongs on Dirt for Maidens, 3 Yrs. Old

R8: 100K Albert M. Stall Mem. S.

1 1/16 Miles on Turf for Fillies & Mares, 4 Yrs. Old & Up

R9: 250K. Mineshaft S. (G3)

1 1/16 Miles on Dirt for 4 Yr. Olds & Up

R10: 175K Fair Grounds S. (G3T)

1 1/8 Miles on Turf for 4 Yr. Olds & Up

🏇R11: 300K Rachel Alexander (G2)

1 1/16 Miles on Dirt for Fillies, 3 Yrs. Old

KY Oaks Pts = 50-25-15-10-5

The Rachel Alexandra Stakes is a Grade 2 American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run annually in February at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. It began in 1982 as the Davona Dale Stakes, named for the champion filly of that name, and was later run as the Silverbulletday Stakes before being renamed in 2010 in honor of Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 American Horse of the Year whose brilliant career included wins in the Fair Grounds Oaks and historic victories such as the Preakness Stakes, making her one of the most celebrated fillies in U.S. racing history. The race is contested at one and one-sixteenth miles on dirt, serves as an early prep on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, and today offers a substantial purse, attracting top fillies aimed at classic success.

🏇R12: 500K Risen Star (G2)

1 1/8 Miles on Dirt for 3 Yr. Olds

KY Derby Pts = 50-25-15-10-5

The Risen Star Stakes is a longstanding American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held each February at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was inaugurated in 1973 as the Louisiana Derby Trial, originally run over about a mile and forty yards as a prep for the Louisiana Derby, but in 1989 was renamed the Risen Star Stakes in honor of Risen Star, the 1988 Louisiana Derby winner who went on to capture the Preakness and Belmont Stakes and was voted champion three-year-old male. Over the years the race’s distance was increased—eventually to its current 1⅛ miles—and it earned graded status (Grade III in 2002, upgraded to Grade II in 2010). Today it is a key early prep on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, offering significant qualifying points and attracting top Derby-bound colts each winter at Fair Grounds.

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Observed each year on February 14th, National Donor Day (also known as  National Organ Donor Day) aims to increase awareness about organ donation and the lives it saves. In the United States, more than 120,000 people are waiting for a life-saving organ donation.

Photo from our friends at National Day Calendar

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/ As always, please forgive any typos and grammatical errors