Just for Fun Stable’s homebred Decisive Moment made another profitable trip
to Delta Downs for Saturday’s $125,000
Delta
Mile, one of six non-graded stakes on the track’s lucrative Jackpot Day.
Runner-up in last year’s Grade 3 Delta Downs Jackpot, and a convincing winner of the
Jean Lafitte over this track and trip in January, Decisive Moment was all heart
on the front end to outduel 8-5 favorite Hoorayforhollywood by a neck.
With Kerwin Clark once more in the saddle, the Juan Arias trainee strode to
the early lead, but he didn’t get a breather. The pacesetter was hounded
throughout by Bob Baffert’s Hoorayforhollywood while carving out fractions of
:23 1/5, :48 and 1:12 2/5. When Hoorayforhollywood advanced, Decisive Moment
responded to keep his head in front.
Rounding the far turn, however, Hoorayforhollywood got the upper hand and
struck the front. His advantage was short-lived. Decisive Moment came again
along the inside, regained a slim lead, and held on by a neck in a final time of
1:38 2/5 on the fast track. The dark bay colt by With Distinction returned
$9.80, $4.20 and $3.20 as the 7-2 third choice.
The Doug O’Neill-trained Matto Mondo, who raced in third for the duration,
was also in contention down the lane, checking in just another half-length away.
Glenwood Canyon and Omniscient dead-heated for fourth in the seven-horse field.
Decisive Moment increased his bankroll to $685,630 from his 15-4-3-3 record.
As a juvenile, the Florida-bred placed in the Dr. Fager and In Reality divisions
of the Florida Stallion Stakes prior to his Delta Downs Jackpot performance.
After kicking off 2011 with a 3 1/2-length decision in the January 14 Jean
Lafitte here, he tired to fifth in the Grade 2 Risen Star, but bounced back with
a runner-up effort to Animal Kingdom in the Grade 3 Spiral.
Buoyed principally by his Jackpot earnings, Decisive Moment had enough to
make it into the Kentucky Derby, where he finished much farther behind Animal
Kingdom in 14th. His other highlights this season came at his home base of
Calder, a victory in the July 30 El Kaiser and a second in the August 20 Naked
Greed. He was coming off a seventh in the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland on
October 29.
In the companion race for distaffers,
the $125,000
Treasure Chest, Coteau Grove
Farms’ Bella Medaglia scored an arguably overdue first stakes victory with an
exclamation point, by establishing a new stakes record.
Always prominent in a crowded pace scenario, the Bret Calhoun filly surged
clear approaching the far turn for John Jacinto. But the sudden move didn’t put
the race away, for Remit went off in pursuit and collared the leader. Fighting
back when headed in midstretch, Bella Medaglia found something in reserve and
pulled 1 3/4 lengths clear. She completed the mile in 1:38.29, bettering the old
stakes mark of 1:38.78 set by Briecat here last year. The 5-2 second choice paid
$7.20, $3.40 and $2.40.
Remit crossed the wire 5 3/4 lengths ahead of 4-5 favorite Spirit Seeker, a
Southern California invader from the Jerry Hollendorfer barn, who rallied
belatedly from last for third.
Bella Medaglia had previously finished runner-up in four stakes — the 2010
Tiffany Lass, the February 26 Sam Houston Distaff, the June 24 Iowa Distaff and
the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Distaff on September 24 at Turfway Park. Sixth in a
Keeneland allowance last time out on October 28, she now sports a mark of
16-4-6-1, $250,916.
Coteau Grove Farms celebrated another winner on the day when Little Ms
Protocol justified 4-5 favoritism in the $150,000
Louisiana
Jewel for state-bred juvenile fillies. Trained by Patrick Devereux Jr. and
ridden by Diego Saenz, the fans’ choice rolled from well back and wore down
Effie by 1 1/4 lengths. Little Ms Protocol finished the mile in 1:41 2/5 to
register her second stakes victory, having won the grassy Princess Stakes at
Louisiana Downs on June 25.
Heartlines Horse Ranch’s Cajun Charlie turned in a wire-to-wire demolition
job in the $150,000
Louisiana Legacy for state-bred colts and geldings. Tracy Hebert guided the
5-1 shot to a 5 3/4-length triumph over 3-1 favorite Freddie One Bite. The Brian
House juvenile, who was coming off a state-bred maiden win at Delta, covered a
mile in 1:40 1/5 to improve his record to 4-2-1-0, $118,908.
The owner/trainer tandem of George and Lori Hall and Kelly Breen were out of
luck earlier on the card, but gained compensation when Nacho Business romped by
7 3/4 lengths in the $60,000
Sam’s
Town for three-year-olds. Under Elvis Trujillo, the 3-5 favorite burst
through along the rail and opened up in the stretch. Nacho Business sped seven
furlongs in 1:24.74, just off the track record of 1:24.31 owned by No Its Not.
A debut winner of some potential at Gulfstream Park on January 30, he was
actually the better-regarded half of the entry with Pants on Fire in the Grade 2
Louisiana Derby on March 26. While Pants on Fire scored one for the stable,
Nacho Business exited his disappointing eighth with an injury. He returned with
a near-miss second in a Laurel allowance on September 10, and 15 days later,
dominated an allowance at Monmouth by 7 3/4 lengths. The talented colt’s resume
now reads 6-3-2-0, $111,520.
Owner/trainer Jackie Thacker’s Mollys Missb’havin brought an entirely
different profile into the $60,000
Orleans
for sophomore fillies. Claimed out of a loss in a $5,000 maiden claimer at
Evangeline Downs in April, she had won three of six for her new barn, including
a starter allowance last time at Delta. The class hike into a stakes looked like
another order of magnitude for the 9-1 chance, but she proved admirably up to
the task.
After setting a pressured pace with regular rider C.J. McMahon, Mollys
Missb’havin was headed by her persistent foe Tapatia in midstretch. The two
brushed in the course of their battle, but Mollys Missb’havin responded to inch
away by a half-length. She stopped the teletimer in 1:26 3/5 for seven furlongs,
advancing her line to 12-4-1-3 and nearly doubling her earnings to $76,133.
The Jackpot Day card, which also featured the Grade 3 Delta Downs Princess,
was worth $2.2 million in total purses.
Delta Downs set a new record with $4,434,099 in all-sources handle, breaking
last year’s Jackpot Day mark of $3,817,849, and posting the highest total ever
on a single day in the track’s 38-year history. Saturday’s total handle marked a
16.1 percent increase of 2010 all-sources handle.