Heitai, Our Quista eye Louisiana Legends Night after victories

OPELOUSAS, La. – Who says you can’t go home again?

Heitai and Our Quista, a pair of Louisiana-breds who ventured out into open company with mixed results at the recently completed Oaklawn Park meeting in Hot Springs, Ark., each made a triumphant return to the Bayou State last Saturday. Our Quista outclassed a group of 3-year-old statebred allowance fillies at Louisiana Downs, while Heitai made his turf debut with a victory in the Need for Speed Stakes at Evangeline Downs.

With those wins, they firmly established themselves as the ones to beat in their respective divisions on Louisiana Legends Night, set for May 24 at Evangeline Downs. The Legends program consists of eight races restricted to statebreds with close to $1 million in purses on the line.

Heitai found himself the 3-5 favorite April 10 in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn after the scratch of defending Breeders’ Cup Sprint champ Secret Circle due to the mistiming of a tranquilizer given to the Bob Baffert trainee during the shipping process. Heitai squared off against just four rivals in the Count Fleet and helped set a blistering pace of 21.30 seconds and 43.78 before fading down the lane to finish last to Lemon Drop Dream, whom he had defeated one start prior in the Duncan F. Kenner Stakes at Fair Grounds.

“No excuses,” said trainer Karl Broberg. “He got hooked through 43 [seconds] and change, and that is what happened. He’s been looked in the eye in the early going twice now, and those are the two times he has run badly for us.”

Fortunately for Broberg and owner-breeder Rowell Enterprises, the good has far outweighed the bad since Broberg took over the training duties for the 4-year-old gelded son of Fusaichi Pegasus last November. In the eight starts since, six have resulted in victories.

In winning the Need for Speed, Heitai gave Broberg his 1,000th training victory. Broberg saddled his first winner in 2009.

“It was nice to get it with him,” Broberg said. “Good horses like him don’t come along very often.”

Our Quista fared considerably better in her trip to Oaklawn. She outran her 7-1 price in reporting home second in a deep optional claimer in her 2014 debut April 10. Saturday’s win was little more than a public work for the 3-year-old Half Ours filly while the prohibitive 1-10 favorite.

“We were pleased with both efforts,” trainer Al Cates said this week. “That race at Oaklawn came up really, really tough. I think that winner [Silk Purse] is going to be a real nice filly.”

Next up for Our Quista is the Legends Soiree for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on grass.

“We’ve had that race on our calendar for a while,” Cates said. “There are some questions – first time on the grass, first time under the lights, the ship down – but she has a little turf in her pedigree, and she is smart. It doesn’t take her long to figure things out.”