Ova Charged on course for Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint
Jockey-turned-trainer Jose Camejo won with four horses during the first five racing days this Fair Grounds meet, though Ova Charged stood far above the others.
Louisiana-bred 3-year-old filly Ova Charged won her debut this past April at Delta Downs by more than 10 lengths and came back with a sharp allowance score at Monmouth Park. The filly showed her graded stakes mettle finishing second behind Souper Sensational in the Victory Ride on July 10 at Belmont, but didn’t start again until Nov. 28, when she coasted to a 10 1/2-length win in a second-level Louisiana-bred dirt-sprint allowance race.
“She did it great, exactly what we expected, and came back good after the race,” Camejo said. “Now we’re going to try and win the stakes with her.”
Camejo refers to the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint, where Ova Charged, who got a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure in her comeback run, will be an overwhelming favorite.
Camejo, 44, went straight from a jockey career into training in 2013. The 2021 season will mark his third straight with stable earnings of more than $1 million, and Camejo has a plum client in Louisiana’s Brittlyn Stable, breeder and owner of Ova Charged and Camejo’s other three winners this meet. Camejo stabled at Monmouth Park this summer but said he’s considering a move to the New York circuit in 2022.
◗ Fair Grounds carded only eight races Sunday, with a second-level Louisiana-bred allowance, race 3, the highest-class contest on the program.