 1/21/2012
- Rosie Napravnik (green and orange cap) overtakes Summer Applause
and Robby Albarado (purple cap) to win the 20th running of the
$125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds. Hodges Photography
/ Lou Hodges, Jr.
BELIEVE YOU CAN CAPTURES FG’S SILVERBULLETDAY;
Mr. Vegas Survives Inquiry to Win Grade III,
$100,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap; Gantry Nips Cash Refund in
$75,000 F. W. Gaudin Memorial Stakes
NEW ORLEANS, LA - Jan. 21, 2012 – Trainer Larry Jones and jockey
Rosie Napravnik both believed in Brereton Jones’s Believe You Can,
and the daughter of Proud Citizen rewarded their faith with a length
and a half victory in Saturday’s $125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes,
first leg of Fair Grounds’ three race series for sophomore fillies
that concludes with the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks March 31.
“We were confident that she’d go far,” said trainer Jones in the
winner’s circle following the Silverbulletday about Believe You
Can’s first race around two turns. “I’ve probably trained more
(Proud Citizens) than anyone,” speaking of his latest female star.
“If they are good sprinting, they are better going long.”
Jones trained another daughter of Proud Citizen, Brereton Jones’s
Proud Spell, to win the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks and Grade I
Kentucky Oaks in 2008.
With her Silverbulletday score, Believe You Can increased her career
earnings to $187,284 with her fourth win in six lifetime starts and
returned mutuels of $7, $3.20 and $2.20 following the withdrawal of
Ramona Bass’s odds-on morning line favorite Applauding, owned by
Ramona Bass, at scratch time Saturday morning due to a mild case of
colic.
“With the key scratch out of here it set up the race a little bit
differently, but I’ve been working this filly a few times and she’s
really impressed me,” Napravnik said. “Larry (Jones) was telling me
if she’s anything like Proud Spell, she’d be a fighter and she
absolutely was. She wasn’t giving an inch.”
After setting early fractions of 23.82 and 47.98, Believe You Can
accomplished the mile and 70 yard-Silverbulletday distance in
1:42.34.
Gillian Campbell et al.’s even-money favorite Summer Applause
prompted the pace of the winner throughout, could not catch that one
but gamely held the place, paying $2.60 and $2.10 while finishing a
nose in front of Jake Ballis’s Inny Minnie, who returned $2.20 to
show.
The second leg of Fair Grounds’ sophomore filly series – the Grade
III Rachel Alexandra Stakes – is to be contested Feb. 25 on
Louisiana Derby Preview Day.
MR. VEGAS SURVIVES INQUIRY TO WIN GRADE III BRADLEY HANDICAP
– Andrews T & S Racing’s Mr. Vegas assumed an easy lead and held on
to win the Grade III Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap by 1 ½ lengths
over David P. Halloway Racing’s Dubious Miss, who steadied slightly
when the winner came in with a sixteenth of a mile to run, but it
wasn’t enough for the stewards to change the order of finish. For
older turf horses, the 1 1/16-mile Bradley kicks off a three race
series that will also include the Feb. 25 Grade III Fair Grounds
Handicap and the April 1 Grade II Mervin H. Muniz Memorial Handicap.
Jockey Miguel Mena piloted Mr. Vegas through fractions of 24.30,
49.41 and 1:13.84 before stopping the timer in 1:43.49. The
5-year-old Freud gelding kept his Fair Grounds record a perfect
three-for-three while improving his overall record to 7-5-0 in 21
starts and increasing his career earnings to $260,331.
“I saw it again and he did come out a touch, so I wasn’t sure if it
was enough to change the outcome, winning trainer Richie Scherer
said after surviving a stewards’ inquiry that lasted nearly 10
minutes. “He did come out a little bit. I’m glad the stewards saw it
my way.”
Mr. Vegas paid $12.40, $6.40 and $4.40, while Dubious Miss returned
$8.60 and $6. Chester Miller & Patrick Dupuy’s Strike Impact was 2 ¼
lengths back in third and paid $4.80.
GANTRY NIPS CASH REFUND IN $75,000 F. W. GAUDIN MEMORIAL STAKES
– Brittlyn Stable’s Gantry, winner of Fair Grounds’ $75,000
Thanksgiving Handicap by a nose on Opening Day Nov. 24, came back to
win Saturday’s $75,000 F. W. Gaudin Memorial Stakes with that same
margin by getting up in the last jump to foil the bid of Richard,
Bertram and Elaine Klein’s Cash Refund, who won this race two years
ago but also finished second by a nose to Gantry on Thanksgiving
Day.
Trained by Ron Faucheux and ridden by Richard Eramia, Gantry
increased his career earnings to $194,850 with his fifth victory in
10 lifetime starts, accomplished the six-furlong distance in 1:09.56
and returned mutuels of $6.40, $3.20 and $2.20.
“This horse has got a big heart and he really tries hard,” said
Eramia in winner’s circle ceremonies following the race.
Cash Refund, who pressed the pace of Whispering Oaks Farm’s Joe
Hollywood, gained the advantage in upper stretch, could not
withstand the winner but was easily second best, finishing 5
1/4-lengths to the good of that rival, who recorded early splits of
21.61 and 44.59.
Cash Refund returned $3.20 and $2.20 and Joe Hollywood paid $2.20 to
show.
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the nation’s third-oldest
racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans,
Fair Grounds is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global
Select Market: CHDN); it also operates a slot-machine gaming
facility and 10 off-track betting parlors throughout southeast
Louisiana. The 140th Thoroughbred Racing Season continues through
April 1, 2012, highlighted by the $1 million Louisiana Derby for
Kentucky Derby hopefuls on April 1. More information can be found
online at
www.FairGroundsRaceCourse.com
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