Vinery colt Friesan Fire is still on-course for the G1 Donn Handicap despite a first-up loss in New Orleans on Friday morning (AEDT).

Friesan Fire (3c A P Indy – Bollinger by Dehere) finished third behind Good And Lucky and Glamour Guy over 1640 metres but trainer Steve Asmussen wasn’t unduly worried.  “He needed the race,” Asmussen said. “He’s a great big horse and he got a little tired.”

Friesan Fire is by a Champion USA sire out of a G1 winning Australian bred mare and he was resuming after being sidelined with a leg injury sustained in the G1 Preakness Stakes.

The Donn Handicap (1800m) will be run at Gulfstream Park on February 6.  Friesan Fire was a G2 winner of the Louisiana Derby earlier this year but a G1 victory would seal his career as a shuttle stallion to Vinery.