Crowned King best in Barksdale

Bossier City, La. - Crowned King picked up his second stakes win of the Harrah?s Louisiana Downs meeting Monday afternoon, kicking well clear through the stretch to win the . The race was originally scheduled for the turf but was moved to the main track because of rain. There were seven scratches, including highweight Waupaca.

Ridden by Luis Quinonez, who was aboard for the win in the Alliance Stakes on the local turf on April 30, Crowned King ($5.80) settled well off some soft opening fractions set by One Tuff Fox before circling the small field in the second turn. Reaching the front entering the stretch, Quinonez tapped the winner a couple of times and they drew clear to win by eight lengths. The winner is trained by Billy McKeever and has now won eight of his 41 starts and has earned over $562,000.

The final time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:43.73 over a sloppy strip. Even-money favorite Roar on Tour, the winner of three straight races on dirt, had to settle for second followed by Virginia Pride. One Tuff Fox and Candid Glen completed the order of finish.