Saintly Look best in Sugar Bowl

NEW ORLEANS - Trainer Dallas Stewart is making his wins count at Fair Grounds. Stewart has won but four races at the meet, but a week ago Kazoo upset the Gaudin Handicap and on this Sunday afternoon favored Saintly Look won the for Stewart's second stakes win.

Saintly Look beat Broke Again by three-quarters of a length in a race that unfolded just as it appeared on paper. Saintly Look stalked the swift, contested pace of Down Play and Mick, made his move in the stretch after Broke Again had taken the lead from the fading speed, and gradually wore down Broke Again in the final furlong.

"I knew there was a lot of speed in the race, so I did as Dallas told me, and that was ride him like I own him," said jockey Shane Sellers. Sellers has been as hot in stakes as Stewart, winning three of the first eight open stakes here. "I broke good, was very loose on the reins, and he was very comfortable. When I urged him, he gave me a good burst of energy."

Saintly Look, a home-bred owned by William Carl, took steady betting action in the Sugar Bowl and wound up the 6-5 choice. He paid $4.60 to win while running six furlongs in 1:10.38. At the finish he was three-quarters of a length in front of Broke Again, the second choice, with Crowned King well back in third.

"We think this colt has a lot of potential, and the plan is to stretch him out," Stewart said.

Fair Grounds first route stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds is the one-mile Lecomte on Jan. 25.