Stallion Heiress now 3 for 3 with Lacombe triumph

The odds-on favorites in two stakes Saturday at Fair Grounds left little doubt about their superiority, Stallion Heiress winning the $50,000 Allen “Black Cat” Lacombe Memorial by open lengths, and Believe in Bertie doing the same in the $60,000 Red Camelia.

Three-year-old filly Stallion Heiress ran her record to three wins from three starts - all on grass - dominating three foes in the Lacombe.

Stallion Heiress went straight to the front under Mitchell Murrill, set moderate splits of 24.47, 49.37 and 1:14.31 while racing slightly keenly under restraint, was briefly challenged by Hotshot Anna in upper stretch, but put that foe away with a nice late burst to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Stallion Heiress changed over to her “wrong” lead at the sixteenth pole, but still finished with good energy and galloped-out powerfully well down the backstretch.

“She does everything perfectly,” Murrill said. “She’s starting to mature more and more.”

Stallion Heiress, trained by Mike Stidham, was timed in 1:44.73 for about 1 1/16 miles on firm turf and paid $2.40 to win. Pure Michigan rallied mildly to nip Hotshot Anna for second, with Song of Spring last of four. Gris Gris, Rum Go, and Stonetacular were scratched.

Stallion Heiress won her career debut in a turf sprint before easily capturing the Joseph E. “Spanky” Broussard over one mile on the Fair Grounds grass course. An Ontario-bred by Exchange Rate out of Mendocino Beano, by Smart Strike, Stallion Heiress is owned by Stallionaire Enterprises.

Two races later, Believe in Bertie ($2.20) made even shorter work of five foes in the Red Camelia, a one-mile grass race for older Louisiana-bred females. Believe in Bertie is not typical Louisiana-bred, though. She had won open turf stakes at Fair Grounds in her two previous starts this winter, and ran her record this meet to 4 for 4 in a dominant, encouraging performance.

Believe in Bertie, a 4-year-old Richard and Bertram Klein homebred by Langfuhr and out of the Street Cry mare Saint Bertie, has led early in most of her races, often while running headlong through fast fractions. But Saturday she settled into a nice easy rhythm on the lead, dawdling through an opening half-mile in 50.30 seconds. She ran three-quarters of a mile in 115.60 and then turned on the jets, flying her final quarter-mile in 22.93 seconds. She ran about one mile in 1:38.53 and won by 9 1/2 lengths.

“She’s blossomed into a wonderful filly,” said Shaun Bridgmohan, who rode Believe in Bertie for trainer Brad Cox. “Today she just made my job so easy. She went slow when I asked her. I never even cocked my stick.”

Safari Calamari finished second, and Pacific Pink was third; neither was a match for the runaway winner of the Red Camelia.