Exfactor enters Louisiana Derby picture with Sugar Bowl win

Last updated: 12/17/11 8:28 PM

Exfactor (gray) triumphed in the Sugar Bowl Stakes in his return off a five-month break
(Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography)

by Vance Hanson

Fair Grounds’ Santa Super Saturday program originally featured three
stakes for older runners, but the
Sugar Bowl overnight stakes was added
to allow a little juvenile representation. Stoneway Farm’s Exfactor
ended up stealing the limelight from his elders when gutting out a nose
decision over Laurie’s Rocket in that $58,800 contest on the fast main
track at the New Orleans venue.

Making his first start since a 2 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 3 Bashford
Manor Stakes on July 2, Exfactor hooked up with Laurie’s Rocket in the final
furlong but showed no signs of rustiness when just getting the best of
the Bluegrass Cat colt.

Exfactor gave Shaun Bridgmohan his
second stakes win on the card while covering six furlongs on the fast main track
in 1:11 3/5. Trained by Bernie Flint, the gray juvenile is now three-for-four lifetime
with earnings of $145,348.

“The horse did it all. Bernie had him good and he did
it all. He fought and he got passed, and he fought his way back. He’s a
gutsy little horse,” Bridgmohan praised his mount.

“We started off with a good horse. That always helps,” Flint admitted.

After running second in his May 14 debut at Churchill
Downs, Exfactor came back the following month to break his maiden by 4 1/2
lengths and then won the Bashford Manor with a last-to-first rally.

“After he
won the Grade 3, we got together, decided to give him some time off, let
him grow up and develop,” Flint explained the layoff. “And I guess the
five months must have worked because I’ve never seen a gamer
two-year-old, head and head down the lane. He’s not an aggressive kind
of animal. But I’ll tell you what he is, he’s gamer than Dick Tracy. He didn’t give up an inch and that horse was a good horse
that pushed him. And my hat’s off to him because he ran every step of
the way with him.”

With this win under his girth, the son of Exchange Rate could be
headed to bigger and better things at Fair Grounds.

“Well I did spend
the 500 (dollars) and nominate him early (to the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and
Fair Grounds’ three-year-old graded stakes series),” Flint said. “Now the whole
thing is, if everything goes along, (he’ll) probably (run). And if he keeps on
moving forward, after all these 72 years, I might have a ticket to run in the
big stakes here.”

Chamberlain Bridge got back
to his winning ways in the Bonapaw Stakes
(Lynn Roberts/Hodges Photography)

Chamberlain Bridge, the 2010 Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Turf
Sprint winner, snapped a six-race losing skid when taking the $73,500
Bonapaw
Stakes earlier on the card.

Departing from his
normal deep-closing tactics, the War Chant gelding was sent to the lead by Jamie Theriot and held off 4-5 favorite Country Day, who ran second in the
Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint this year, by a length. The final time for about 5 1/2
furlongs on the yielding turf was 1:03 2/5.

“Well he broke very sharp for us
today and the old Chamberlin showed up today,” Therio said. “We changed
tactics with him and he went back to his old style of running.”

The Bonapaw
was the 12th career stakes win for the seven-year-old Chamberlain
Bridge, who had last visited the winner’s circle following the Rail
Splitter Stakes at Sam Houston on February 12. His record now stands at
39-18-4-8, $1,732,231.

“You know, we had a rough year with him, obviously, physically he’s been the
same horse as he was last year during his great campaign and this year he just
really mentally hasn’t seemed to be the same. He’s had a couple of excuses,”
trainer Bret Calhoun asserted. “The last two races were definitely throw out
races. Before that he didn’t really have any major excuses. He was kind of just
going through the motions but he’s trained very, very well and it looks like he
got back on track today. I hope that will give him some confidence to move
forward from here.”

Cherokee Queen gutted out the victory in the Blushing K. D.
(Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography)

Cherokee Queen, who landed the Grade 3 Suwannee River
Stakes earlier this year, ended her six-year-old campaign on a high note with a
victory in the $75,000
Blushing K. D. Handicap.

Debuting
for trainer Steve Margolis after previously residing in the south Florida barn
of Marty Wolfson, the daughter of Cherokee Run rallied from near the back of
the 10-horse field to win by a neck in a three-way photo.

Under Shaun Bridgmohan,
Cherokee Queen. covered about 1 1/16 miles on the turf in 1:45 1/5 as the 7-2
second choice. Odds-on favorite Ravi’s Song (Unbridled’s Song) finished ninth.

A five-time stakes winner prior to the Blushing K. D., Cherokee Queen
had been unplaced in her last three outings before transferring barns.
She was purchased by Clark Brewster for $240,000 at last month’s
Keeneland November sale and sent to Margolis.

“She’s a real class act,” Margolis said.
“Clark had picked her out at Keeneland and asked if I had a
stall and I said, ‘Sure thing, yeah.’ So we brought her to Churchill, let her
gallop a little bit, gave her a work there, and brought her here, kind of
specifically to have this race, and the other series. Long term, she’s going to be a broodmare for him but we wanted to see if she
has any more run. She’s just a class act and she kind of knew her way around
there.

“It was great for Clark and Debbie Brewster to come, and we ran a maiden in a
race earlier,” the conditioner added. “This is our first win so it’s great to get off like this. Clark’s
a great owner and has a lot of passion for the game. I’m really excited
for them.”

Cherokee Queen’s record improved to 33-10-6-1, $568,312.

Fast Alex (outside) vindicated his 8-5 favoritism
by holding Gleam of Hope in the Tenacious
(Lynn Roberts/Hodges Photography)

The stakes action at Fair Grounds on Saturday kicked off with the $72,000
Tenacious Handicap for older horses, an early step toward the Grade 2
New Orleans Handicap on April 1. Victorious after a stretch-long duel was Jim Tafel’s
Fast Alex, who edged Gleam of Hope by a nose as the 8-5 choice
in a field of five.

Separating themselves from the rest of the field by more
than 15 lengths, the pair exchanged bumps around the sixteenth pole but neither
wavered in a tight finish. Under Robby Albarado, Fast Alex completed 1 1/16
miles in 1:45 1/5.

“That other horse slipped through
there (on the rail) and had a better trip than I did, but this horse fights on
to the wire,” Albarado said. “He’s a fighter. He never wins by far but he knows where the wire is
and he knows to stay in front.”

The bay colt, trained by Greg Geier, had been unplaced in
three prior stakes attempts, including a decent fourth in the New
Orleans back in March. Fast Alex’s record now stands at 13-4-0-2,
$150,605.

“He just loves it here,” Geier said of the Afleet Alex colt. “I had him
when he was a two-year-old at Hawthorne and I told Marcus Hersh, wait until he gets to the Fair Grounds and he turns three. He trains good
here and he just does everything good here. It’s amazing.”