Fair Grounds: String King captures Mr. Sulu for second time
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Heavily favored String King had to work harder than expected to put away 45-1 outsider Tiger Run and win the $60,000 Mr. Sulu Stakes for Louisiana-breds at Fair Grounds for the second time Saturday.
Racing over a turf course rated yielding, Tiger Run, under Brian Hernandez Jr., set slow fractions of 25.32 and 50.75 seconds in the one-mile race. String King, ridden by James Graham, was six lengths off the pace racing in fourth down the backstretch.
String King ($2.60) moved up into contention at the quarter pole and took a slight lead in upper stretch, but Tiger Run, stepping up following a victory over conditioned $25,000 claimers at Hawthorne, refused to fold. String King finally surged clear to score by three-quarters of a length, completing the mile in 1:42.16. Tiger Run was a clear second. Sadie’s Soldier beat out Sunwave by a head for third.
It was the 11th win in 26 starts for String King, bred, owned, and trained by Charles Smith.