Nanda Dea waits for break, finally gets it in Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes

Nanda Dea showed why she was heavily favored to win the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes on Saturday when she overcame trouble in midstretch to prevail by a half-length at Fair Grounds.

Around the clubhouse turn, down the backstretch, and through the second bend, Nanda Dea was getting a perfect pocket trip under Jose Ortiz. With three horses stacked in front of him turning for home, Ortiz eschewed an outside rally and held his position, waiting for something to open between horses or along the fence. Nanda Dea was 6-5, she raced in the bridle throughout and looked loaded with run in upper stretch; Ortiz probably figured that with so much horse underneath him he could make his own luck.

That nearly backfired. Ortiz at the three-sixteenths pole tried to split pacesetting Join the Dance and pacepressing Way to Be Marie, but after Nanda Dea got partway into the gap between the two, the hole closed. At the eighth pole, Ortiz had to steady his mount, Nanda Dea losing her momentum and swinging outside the two still ahead of her. It took a few strides for the mare to wind up again, but once she did, she flew past Join the Dance and Way to Be Marie, winning by a half-length while going away.

“I hope I didn’t make Nacho very nervous,” Ortiz said.

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Trainer Ignacio Correas, based in Lexington, watched the Stall from afar. Maybe he wasn’t nervous, but he could not have been pleased.

“We got a great trip other than wait, wait, wait, and had to check a little bit,” said Ortiz, who praised Nanda Dea’s will to win.

Join the Dance, aided by a slow second quarter-mile, held well to finish second, three-quarters of a length in front of Way to Be Marie in a race dominated by the lead pack. Nanda Dea paid $4.60 and was timed in 1:44.64 for 1 1/16 miles over a firm course.

Nanda Dea has won both her North American starts since being imported last year from her native Argentina, where she was a multiple Group 1 winner and champion miler. Nanda Dea, a 6-year-old on Southern Hemisphere time, by Fortify out of Nanga Parbat, by Majestic Warrior, won a Keeneland allowance race last October and is 10-8-1-0 for her career. Correas intended to run her last month at Fair Grounds, but scratched the mare when rain forced grass racing onto the main track. Now she has her 2025 debut behind her. There are bigger things to come.

Colonel Power Stakes

Mansa Musa kicked off his 4-year-old season with a win in the $98,000 Colonel Power Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds – but just barely.

Jockey Irad Ortiz gave Mansa Musa a perfect trip stalking Kavod, who led, and No Nay Hudson, who pressed Kavod, and from the three-sixteenths pole to the furlong grounds, Mansa Musa, pouncing on the two in front of him, appeared to be on the way to a decisive score. He was not. Kavod fought back gamely and in another couple jumps might have won, but in the end, it was Mansa Musa by a head in this 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older horses.

One length behind the top two, Demolition Duke nosed out a fading No Nay Hudson, the narrow favorite, for third. Mansa Musa clocked 1:03.69 over a firm grass course and paid $5.80 as the strong second choice. Three scratches left the Colonel Power with a field of seven.

Trained by Bill Mott, Mansa Musa (Ten Sovereigns out of Sundiata, by Showcasing) won one of four starts as a 2-year-old racing in Ireland, Team Valor International and Gary Barber purchasing the colt in late summer with hopes of a run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Mansa Musa instead made his American debut this past April, coming up just short in the Palisades Stakes, one of several good losses during a 2024 campaign that saw him win a first-level allowance race from seven outings. Still second-level allowance eligible before Saturday, Mansa Musa now has won three times in a dozen starts and should have room to improve this season.

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