Compelled gets off to good start in Mardi Gras

NEW ORLEANS – Compelled showed plenty of ability as an early-season 3-year-old in 2017, and showed it again in her 4-year-old debut, returning from a long layoff Tuesday at Fair Grounds to win the $75,000 Mardi Gras Stakes by one length over favored Finley’sluckycharm.

Roaring through the Fair Grounds stretch under Corey Lanerie, Compelled ($15.40) was three lengths and four places behind leading Triple Chelsea at the stretch call, but with a sub-six second final furlong, she zipped past Triple Chelsea and Finley’sluckycharm to win going away.

“I never really thought I was going to get there until the very end,” said Lanerie, who rode Compelled for trainer Tom Proctor and owner-breeder Glen Hill Farm.

:: The Road to the Kentucky Derby Player's Package

Compelled, by War Front and out of the Dynaformer mare Mutually Benefit, won two of four starts at age 2, then was third and second in graded turf stakes last winter at Gulfstream Park, but following a second-place finish in the Hilltop Stakes on May 19 at Pimlico, Compelled was shelved for several months. The filly had debuted decently turf sprinting at Saratoga but the 5 1/2 –furlong Mardi Gras trip looked like it might be on the short side of ideal. And it might have been, but Compelled won anyway.

“She’s got a lot of class and Tom had her ready to roll,” Lanerie said.

:: Get bonus PPs for Saturday's Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie card at Laurel Park

Triple Chelsea, who took heavy late betting to go postward as a clear second choice, raced between Go Kart and Justa Lady through reasonable fractions of 22.09 and 46.27, putting her pace rivals away and assuming command in upper stretch. But as Triple Chelsea faltered slightly in the final furlong, Compelled, who was eighth down the backstretch and around the turn, found her best stride, edging off the rail, coming between rivals and finishing up outside the second- and third-place horses. Compelled stopped the timer in 1:04.32 over a course labeled good while winning for the third time in eight starts and earning a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

A graded stakes winner on dirt, Finley’sluckycharm made her turf debut in the Mardi Gras and performed creditably, stalking the pace and coming home second, a neck in front of Triple Chelsea, in a race designed as much as anything to shake off rust and put her on a path to the Grade 1 Madison Stakes in April over Keeneland’s dirt track.

“She didn’t have a quick turn of foot or the gears like she usually has, but at the end of the day, while we’d have loved to have won, we definitely got what we needed out of it,” said trainer Bret Calhoun.