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 2/11/2012
- Robby Albarado aboard Joyful Victory (red blinkers) battles Ravi's
Song and jockey C. J. McMahon to win the Tiffany Lass Stakes at Fair
Grounds. Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges, Jr.
JOYFUL VICTORY RETURNS IN PINK IN
FG’S TIFFANY LASS
NEW ORLEANS (Saturday, February 11, 2012) – Fox Hill Farms’ Joyful
Victory, asked to show a second effort when passed by Mrs. Yoshio
Fujita’s Ravi’s Song in mid-stretch of Saturday’s $75,000 Tiffany
Lass Stakes at Fair Grounds, responded to that request with a
courageous half-length tally in the New Orleans oval’s featured race
of the weekend.
"I knew Ravi’s Song was coming with a head of momentum and I’ve
never seen this mare get in that kind of position," said winning
trainer Larry Jones, "but I was very proud to see her second effort
to come back and she gutted it out. It was a good effort. At Oaklawn
(last year) whenever she got the lead, she’d be gone."
Seven-time Fair Grounds riding champion Robby Albarado was aboard
Joyful Victory.
"When she finally did (see Ravi’s Song coming) she put in that
second effort," Albarado said. "That was the deciding factor at the
wire."
Joyful Victory, who won Oaklawn’s Grade II Fantasy and Grade III
Honeybee last winter to earn the favorite’s mantle in last spring’s
Grade I Kentucky Oaks, returned mutuels of $3.80, $2.40 and $2.10 in
the Tiffany Lass, toured the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:45.09 and
increased her career earnings to $240,068 with her fourth career
victory in 10 lifetime starts.
Gallant in defeat was Ravi’s Song, heroine of Fair Grounds’ $100,000
New Orleans Ladies last year. The Carl Bowman trainee ran her race
for apprentice jockey C. J. McMahon but it just wasn’t good enough.
"I had the perfect trip all the way around," McMahon said of Ravi’s
Song, who paid $3.80 and $2.40. "She just got outrun."
Finishing third in the Tiffany Lass, five lengths farther back, was
William and Graydon Patterson’s Juanita, who made the pace with
fractions of 24.49 and 48.67 before weakening against the top two
late. She returned $2.20 for the show position.
Racing resumes Sunday at Fair Grounds with a 10-race program
beginning at 12:40 p.m.
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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