Fashion Faux Pas romps in Light Hearted Stakes

The $50,000 Light Hearted on Wednesday at Delaware Park looked like an evenly matched affair, but Fashion Faux Pas turned the mile and 70-yard stakes for 3-year-old fillies into a one-horse race, romping by an easy 14 1/2 lengths.

Our Super Freak was sent from the gate to make the lead by Trevor McCarthy, and Fashion Faux Pas relaxed nicely off her as they left the other five runners open lengths behind. Fashion Faux Pas readily took the lead from Our Super Freak before reaching the five-sixteenths pole and powered away with jockey Daniel Centeno sitting chilly the final sixteenth-mile.

A weary Our Super Freak bravely held second by a neck over New York shipper Nonsensical. It was another 4 1/2 lengths back to Pat’s No Fool in fourth.

Fashion Faux Pas is trained by Arnaud Delacour and owned by Denlea Park Ltd. and Kent Spellman. The daughter of Flatter paid $6.40 as a narrow favorite over Our Super Freak and was timed in 1:41.18. Nonsensical was the third betting choice at 5-2.

Fashion Faux Pas is now 3 for 7. She had made her two prior starts on turf, but judging by her Wednesday performance may have enjoyed her return to the main track. The Light Hearted was Fashion Faux Pas’ second stakes win. She scored by four lengths under Centeno in the six-furlong Sandpiper at Tampa Bay Downs in December.

“She has a good cruising speed and she showed it in the past like when she won going six furlongs at Tampa,” Delacour said. “The question was could she stay, but the pedigree suggested she could, so that is why we took a shot in this spot.”

The Light Hearted is the local prep for the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks, which will be run at 1 1/16 miles on July 6.

“Assuming she comes back in good form and trains well, we will probably run her in the Delaware Oaks,” Delacour said. “It looks like she can run both on dirt and turf, so she is a very versatile filly.”