Fair Grounds: Potomac River charges home to take Fair Grounds Handicap

NEW ORLEANS – Catching fellow 14-1 shot Skyring in the final strides, Potomac River won the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Handicap on Saturday by a nose to give trainer Jose Camejo his first stakes victory.

“It's amazing,'' said Camejo, a 36-year-old native of Venezuela who has been training for 10 months. "I can't describe my first stakes win, because it's too emotional.''

Ridden by Juan Vargas, Potomac River rallied from far back in the 1 1/8-mile race on turf.

Skyring took the lead at the break, running the first quarter-mile in 24.28 seconds. On the backstretch, Gentleman's Kitten was pulling hard and opened a clear lead before reaching the final turn. He raced through a half-mile in 48.70 and six furlongs in 1:12.04, a very fast pace.

In the stretch, Gentleman's Kitten was tiring and gave up the lead to Skyring as Daddy Nose Best, the favorite, was launching a bid on the outside. But Potomac River's late punch was stronger, and he pushed past Daddy Nose Best and Skyring to win.

A 5-year-old horse owned by Maribel Ruelas, Potomac River ran the distance on a good course in 1:50.52 to win for the sixth time in 20 starts. Daddy Nose Best finished third, a length behind the top pair, in a field of seven older horses.

Potomac River rebounded from an eighth-place finish in the Col. E.R. Bradley Handicap on Jan. 18 in his first start on the local course.

"He got tired,'' Cameo said.”He came from Kentucky. I think he was 100 percent for this race.''

In his last start before shipping to New Orleans, Potomac River, trained at the time by Sergio Baez, won the Grade River City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile turf race Nov. 23 at Churchill Downs. He was a 45-1 shot that day.

On Saturday, he wasn't overlooked to that extent. He paid $31.40.