Fair Grounds: Favored Upperline takes Bayou BC

Upperline proved a prompt favorite in the first stakes on the blockbuster Louisiana Derby card Saturday at Fair Grounds in New Orleans when pulling clear to a four-length triumph under Rosie Napravnik in the $96,000 Bayou Handicap.

Always in striking position in the field of five filly-mare turf runners, Upperline moved to challenge after turning for home in the 1 1/16-mile race, then sped clear after passing the eighth pole.

Category Seven was up in the final strides to wrest second from Forest Uproar, helping to complete the same 1-2-3 finish as in the prior race in the division, the Feb. 26 LaCombe Memorial.

Upperline returned $4.40 as favorite after finishing in 1:42.52 over a firm course.
Upperline, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Maria’s Mon, is owned by a four-way partnership that includes her trainer, Mike Stidham. She now has won 5 of 11 starts and earned $270,987.