How to bet the 2025 Donovan L. Ferguson Memorial Stakes

A total of nine juvenile fillies bred in Louisiana will dash six furlongs on the Fair Grounds main strip in Friday’s $100,000 Donovan L. Ferguson Memorial S. I’m most interested in a pair of runners that I can’t really separate in the heat and will place them on top of my wagers. 

Ferguson Memorial Wagers

• $10 win and place #5 Swampy ($20)
• $8 exacta box 2-5 ($16)
• 30-cent superfecta 2,5 with 2,5 with 1,6,9 with all ($10.80)

#5 Swampy (4-1) dominated at first asking at Evangeline Downs and was last seen just missing by a neck when she was a clear runner-up in the Louisiana Jewel S. at Delta Downs off the layoff. The bay daughter of Jimmy Creed has proven capable of going to the front or coming from off the pace in her two runs to date, and the January foal has obvious room to move forward second off the shelf, too. Cajun-bred from the Breaux shedrow, the filly draws a nice post to give options to pilot Reylu Gutierrez in the early portion of the affair. 

#2 Little Miss Curlin (3-1) was unveiled at Delta Downs on Oct. 22 and drove home a sharp, 4 1/4-length debut victress at five furlongs for conditioner Joseph Devereux. The chestnut daughter of freshman sire Charlatan was well backed as the favorite in her first showing and has trained swiftly in the interim as well, hinting that she might be a good one like her stakes-winning dam. The Coteau Grove homebred is the inside pace of the field and could be difficult to reel in if she is clear at the top of the lane. She also gets a rider upgrade to Jareth Loveberry, too. 

A trio of other contenders in the field have exotics appeal to me in the heat. Bret Calhoun’s twice stakes-placed filly #1 El Sunshine (5-1) comes in fresh with a good draw on the fence. The consistent Louisiana Jewel S. queen #6 Liteupthenite (7-2) has hit the board in all four lifetime runs, with three of those coming in stakes tilts. And the stakes-placed #9 Fly Strong (20-1) will bring a lot of pace to the race from the outside post as a dangerous longshot contender.