Mimi's Tizzy rolls in Furl Sail

NEW ORLEANS - Heavy rain early Friday morning in New Orleans tore a hole in the field for the Furl Sail Handicap, and with six of the 14 entrants scratched when the race was moved from turf to dirt, Mimi's Tizzy stole away to an easy lead and won the Furl Sail by four lengths.

Expertly ridden by jockey Kirk Leblanc, who scored his fifth stakes win of this meet, Mimi's Tizzy opened a clear lead on the first turn of the one-mile Furl Sail and ran on a loose rein down the backstretch.

"Everybody took back off me and let me have it my way," Leblanc said.

Mimi's Tizzy ran a half-mile in a leisurely 48.05 seconds, was challenged by Zamba Canuta approaching the far turn, but ran away from that mare on her own and had plenty of energy for the stretch run. Naturally Wild and Alpine at Clark finished second and third. Favored Good Game clearly did not handle the main track and beat only Sarah Lane's Oates. Mimi's Tizzy was timed in 1:39.70 over a sloppy track and paid $14.60.

Mimi's Tizzy, had never won a dirt race before the Furl Sail, only her second start for trainer Harold Williams.