Sunbean noses out String King in thrilling LCD Classic at
Fair Grounds
Brittlyn Stable’s Sunbean, a contestant
in last spring’s Louisiana Derby as well as other graded stakes,
returned to Louisiana-bred company and his winning ways by nosing out String King in Saturday’s 23rd running of the $150,000
Louisiana
Champions Day Classic at Fair Grounds.
The LCD Classic, played
out under rainy skies and in sloppy going, annually serves as the main event on
the New Orleans oval’s traditional annual series dedicated to horses bred in the
Pelican State but this edition proved one of the most exciting renewals in its
history.
Sunbean, ridden by Richard Eramia and trained by Ron
Faucheux, traded head bobs with the James Graham-ridden and Charlie
Smith-conditioned String King in the late stages of the stretch run before
narrowly prevailing at the wire in a finish too close to call by the naked eye.
One of only two sophomores in the race facing older rivals, Sunbean paid $4.60
as the 6-5 favorite while touring the sloppy nine-furlongs in 1:53 1/5.
The Brahms gelding increased his
career earnings to $378,900 with his sixth career win in 11 lifetime starts.
“We were together down the stretch,” Eramia said. “I had a perfect trip. I
knew the #1 horse (Skip the
Pinot) was going to go to the lead and the other (String King) would be close.
Everyone was going to be close no matter how you spin the race but we got it.”
String King’s owner-trainer-breeder Charles Smith was magnanimous
in defeat.
“You can’t be upset with an effort like that,” Smith said
of his gallant gelding who captured the
2012 and 2011 runnings of the LCD Turf. “He spotted us a little weight. We’ll have another
day. You can’t fault the horse. He ran a hard race. I just hate to come out on
the short end of the stick.”
Skip the Pinot, who set the early fractions of :23 4/5 and
:49 1/5 under clever handling by Mark Guidry, weakened to third in
the late stages, finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind the top two.
In Saturday’s main supporting feature, Glen
Warren’s odds-on choice Hud’s Rebellion, trained by Andy Leggio Jr. and ridden
by Rosie Napravnik, outdueled Sadie’s Soldier in the final
sixteenth of a mile to be best by 1 1/2 lengths in the 22nd renewal of the
$100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Turf over a Stall-Wilson turf course rated
good.
Hud’s Rebellion had been cross-entered in the Classic
earlier in the week before Leggio opted for the Turf.
“We got lucky,” Leggio said of his midweek decision
to scratch Hud’s Rebellion out of Classic. “(The LCD Turf) kind of played out the
way I thought it would. I’m pretty satisfied with the way everything went.”
Winning owner and breeder Warren was pleased and added,
“One nice thing about this horse is that he can run on dirt or turf and it
really didn’t matter to us today what surface we ran on.”
Winning rider Napravnik was also happy with Hud’s
Rebellion.
“He just loped along behind the pacekeeping horses inside
of us and then he made a big run,” she said. “He is doing really well. This
is a horse with a lot of class.”
Hud’s Rebellion returned $3.40 after finishing about 1 1/16 miles in 1:48
1/5. The four-year-old chestnut son of Ole Rebel increased his career earnings to $236,356
with his sixth win in 15 lifetime starts.
In the $100,000
Louisiana Champions Day Ladies, Charles Zacney and Edward Johnston’s Ladyzarbridge defended her championship from last
season and won it for the third time in the last four years.
Taking command at the break, the Zarbyev six-year-old mare made the pace
with splits of :25 and :50 under Napravnik, and held off the late
challenge of Tensas Harbor by a neck, returning
$12.20 as the 5-1 fourth pick. Conditioned by co-owner Johnston, Ladyzarbridge
accomplished the 1 1/16-miles over the good track in 1:46 3/5 and increased her
career earnings to $431,114 with her eighth win in 28 lifetime starts.
“When the #3 horse (Silent Legacy) didn’t go for the lead, I was caught by
surprise,” Napravnik admitted, “but my filly loves running on the
lead, she loves this race track and she really loves this race.”
In the $100,000
Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint,
Ronny Werner et al.’s Guadalupe High, allowed to settle behind the leaders,
challenged outside those when set down for the drive under clever handling by
Gerard Melancon and held off Afternoon Tango. The winner, conditioned by Werner, paid $11.20
as the 9-2 third favorite for finishing six furlongs over the good track in 1:12
1/5. The Cuvee sophomore filly increased her career
earnings to $325,348 with her seventh win in 13 career starts.
Sittin at the Bar, heavily favored in the
Ladies Sprint at 4-5, didn’t hit the board.
“She just didn’t fire today,” trainer
Brett Brinkman said. “The heaviness of the track may have been a concern.”
In the $100,000
Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile, Ide Be Cool, owned and trained
by Henry Ray Dunn, kept his undefeated streak alive with a front-running,
seven-length score under jockey Chris Rosier for his fourth win in four career
starts while increasing his career earnings to $189,600. The Ide chestnut
gelding covered six furlong on the good dirt in 1:11 after early splits of :229 and
:46 3/5. He paid $7.20 as the 5-2 second choice.
Even-money favorite Coteau Rouge
had his perfect two-for-two mark broken when second.
In the first
Thoroughbred race of the afternoon — the $100,000
Louisiana Champions Day
Lassie restricted to Louisiana-bred two-year-old fillies — Circle H Farms’
homebred Lexi’s Love got up in
the last strides under a brilliant ride by Diego Saenz to best 1-2 favorite All Woman by a head.
In the process, the Alan Klanfer-trained daughter of Big Top Cat increased her earnings to $100,650 with her third win in five starts.
Lexi’s Love accomplished the six furlongs in 1:13 3/5 on the good main track.
In the $100,000
Louisiana Champions Day Sprint, Rowell
Enterprises’ Heitai, relishing the sloppy going, took command at the break, made
the pace in early fractions of :22 and :45 2/5, and galloped home seven lengths
to the good of even-money favorite Southern Dude with a final time of 1:11 3/5
for six furlongs on the sloppy, sealed dirt.
Overlooked in the wagering, the Karl Broberg-trained Heitai and Saenz paid $32.60
at 15-1 on the board. The Fusaichi Pegasus gelding increased his career earnings to
$238,943 with his fourth win in 14 starts.
In the $50,000
Louisiana Champions Day Starter Handicap
Stakes, Hardy Racing Stables’ Raiseanothergator, ridden by Richard Eramia and
trained by Keith Bourgeois, led throughout, getting the sloppy six furlongs in
1:45 1/5 and returning $6 for his 15 1/2 length win.