Fort Loudon, Awesome Belle score for Jacks or Better Farm

Fred Brei's Jacks or Better Farm homebred Fort Loudon captured the $300,000

In Reality division of the Florida Stallion Stakes (FSS) at Calder

on Saturday during the Festival of the Sun, giving his owner/breeder and

trainer Stanley Gold an unprecedented third sweep of the prestigious

series the last three years.

The team swept the filly series in 2010 with Awesome Feather, who

went on to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and an Eclipse Award for

her division. In 2009, they sent out Jackson Bend for the hat trick. In a very good season this year, their fillies Redbud Road and

Awesome Belle each won divisions of the FSS, with Awesome Belle taking

the My Dear Girl one race before Fort Loudon won the In Reality on

Saturday.

"I guess this is the icing on the cake," Gold said. "I thought he

could do it (sweep). I need to ask Luis (Jurado) what he thought. It

looked like he hesitated while he was alongside the other horse in the

upper stretch before he went on and drew off. I feel so fortunate to

have had these nice horses the last few years."

All three Jacks or Better colorbearers may find themselves shipping

north to Churchill Downs for a run in the Breeders' Cup.

Giving her connections a thrill one race earlier, Awesome Belle

dominated the $300,000

My Dear Girl division, scoring by 7 1/2 lengths under

Jurado after leading wire-to-wire.

"I knew we had speed, but I wanted to see if anyone else went to the

lead first," Jurado described his ride. "They didn't, so I let her take

the lead. I was just surprised that the others left us alone up front.

On the backstretch, I took another hold of her and slowed the pace down

even more and that left me with a lot of horse for the stretch run. Near

the quarter-pole, I couldn't wait any more and she exploded when I let

her run."

The Awesome of Course filly was making her two-turn debut in the 1

1/16-mile contest, finishing up in 1:47 2/5 as the near 7-2 third pick.

She was worth $8.80, $5 and $4.

Macanuda finished second as Redbud Road, a stablemate of Awesome Belle and

winner of the Desert Vixen division of the FSS in August, came in third. The 5-2

favorite, Queen Drama, finished sixth in the field of eight.

"She (Awesome Belle) kept finding trouble in her races (Florida Stallion

Stakes) until today," Gold said. "We put the blinkers on her and she went to the

front. No trouble today. We've always thought she was a good filly."

Prior to the My Dear Girl, Caroni Stable's three-year-old colt

Oligarch won the $73,600

Tropical Park Derby in gate-to-wire fashion under jockey Daniel

Centeno. The Rodolfo Garcia trainee took the lead early in the 1

1/8-mile turf race and never looked back, stopping the clock in 1:53 3/5

over the yielding course. The son of Congrats held off a late challenge

from Star of Sarava, defeating that one by a head, with

Bringbackthemagic another length back in third.

Oligarch paid $18.80, $7.80 and $5 as the 8-1 fourth pick. Manicero,

the even-money favorite, finished fourth.

"This didn't surprise me at all, I felt very confident going into

this race," Garcia said. "Going a mile and an eighth with a horse that

likes to go to the lead, you can set an easier pace. When I saw 51 and

one (for the half-mile), even over the yielding course, I knew we were

in business today."

Oligarch was making just his second start against open stakes rivals,

having run third in the Needles Stakes behind winner Manicero and

runner-up Star of Sarava. He gained a measure of revenge for that loss

here while improving his line to 8-3-1-1 and doubling his career

earnings to $93,204.

Michel Jean Zerolo's three-year-old filly Louvakhova drifted out

badly in the stretch of the $69,000

Frances A. Genter Stakes, but that didn't stop her from wrapping up

the Festival of the Sun stakes action with a 4 1/4-length score. Bred in

Kentucky but making her first start stateside after opening her career

in France, the Marty Wolfson pupil was on cruise control while running a

mile on the yielding turf in 1:38 1/5.

"She had no trouble acclimating," Wolfson said. "She only got here

two weeks ago, but pretty soon after I thought she'd win this race.

We'll probably have to ship around for her next spot."

Ridden by leading jockey Luis Saez, Louvakhova defeated 3-2 post time

favorite Callmethesqueeze, with Prize Informant finishing third. The

winning daughter of Maria's Mon paid $5.40, $3.40 and $2.80 as the 8-5

second choice.

"Mr. Wolfson told me to get some good position early in the race and

don't be afraid to let her run when she wants to," Saez explained.

"She's a classy filly and very easy to ride...when I let her go, she was

full of run and had a lot left at the wire."