Fair Grounds: Heitai speeds away in Costa Rising Stakes

You can drop the “Louisiana-bred” qualifier when calling the 4-year-old gelding Heitai fast.

For about five furlongs, Heitai can just plain fly. He won his second straight Louisiana-bred sprint stakes at Fair Grounds on Saturday, capturing an off-the-turf edition of the $60,000 Costa Rising Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths. And very few horses on the grounds, bred between whatever borders, could have kept up with Heitai and finished with any energy Saturday.

Leaving from post 3, Heitai and jockey Diego Saenz broke alertly, cleared the two horses drawn to their inside within a furlong, and glided left to take the shortest path around the turn. Southern Dude, the 6-5 favorite, raced less than a length behind and to the outside of Heitai through an opening quarter-mile in 22.16 seconds but struggled to keep up through a testing 44.89-second half-mile, falling away after straightening into the homestretch.

Heitai did not fold, keeping up his pace past the sixteenth pole before either tiring slightly or growing distracted as his course drifted mildly toward the grandstand. His margin of victory remained comfortable, with Skip the Pinot a one-paced, outside-closing second. Nubin Ridge rallied mildly along the rail for a well-beaten third, and Southern Dude was fourth.

The winner, who paid $6.60, ran 5 1/2 furlongs on a fast track in a swift 1:03.46.

Heitai, bred and owned by Frank Rowell’s Rowell Enterprises Inc., is a son of Fusaichi Pegasus and the good Louisiana-bred Sparkles of Luck. He won for the fifth time in 15 starts and has improved dramatically since returning from a long layoff and moving into the barn of trainer Karl Broberg last fall.

Heitai won an allowance race at Delta Downs by almost 19 lengths Nov. 1 and was seven lengths best last month in the Louisiana Champions Day Sprint.

The Costa Rising was carded for about 5 1/2 furlongs on turf but was switched to the main track Saturday morning after overnight and morning rain. Five of the 12 entered horses were scratched.

• One race before the Costa Rising, Kendall’s Boy – probably best known for finishing second to Havana in a fast Saratoga debut – led most of the way in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-olds. Kendall’s Boy, ridden by Rosie Napravnik for trainer Tom Amoss, beat Be Well by two lengths in race 8, running six furlongs in 1:10.91. Big Sugar Soda finished third.