Underpressure, Mobile Bay meet in Louisiana Premier Night Championship

A millionaire chasing his fourth consecutive stakes win, Mobile Bay casts a long shadow over the $170,000 Louisiana Premier Night Championship on Saturday at Delta Downs. But there is a fresh new face in the race, Underpressure, and he boasts a strong record over the six-furlong Delta oval.

“He’s run really well here,” said Chris Richard, who trains Underpressure. “He’s 3 for 5 at Delta.”

The Championship anchors a card of six divisional stakes for Louisiana-breds worth a total of $795,000. There also are four starter events that help push purses for the 12-race program over $1 million. There is a special first post of 5:20 p.m. Central, while a 50-cent pick four covering races 6-9 will have a guaranteed minimum pool of $50,000.

The sequence’s final leg is the Championship, a 1 1/16-mile race with a field of six horses ages 4 and up. Mobile Bay won the race a year ago following a victory in the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic at Fair Grounds, and he follows the same pattern into this race. Mobile Bay was a nose winner of the Champions Day Classic on Dec. 9, leading every step of the way in his first start in 10 months .

Mobile Bay is owned by Tigertail Ranch, trained by Victor Arceneaux, and will be ridden by regular rider Diego Saenz.

Underpressure raced in second for much of the Champions Day Classic and ended up third, beaten a length as a 3-year-old facing his elders. For the rematch, Underpressure has been working at Delta, where last season he shipped in from Oaklawn and won the first stakes race of his career in the $100,000 Premier Night Prince. Underpressure, now based at Delta, will be shortening up from 1 1/8 miles.

Richard noted that Underpressure ran well going 1 1/16 miles in an allowance last May at Churchill Downs. He finished third in that race, earning a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure. Corey Lanerie was aboard and will ride on Saturday. Underpressure will start from post 2.

“I anticipate him being a little off the pace,” Richard said. “That’s what he’s done in all of his Delta races. There’s a couple of horses that might show some speed in here. He’ll probably be somewhere around five, six lengths off the pace and make his run. We’ll see what he can do.”

The field also includes Grande Basin, who was second in the Champions Day Classic, and Nubin Ridge, the winner of the $100,000 Gold Cup in October at Delta.

The $120,000 Prince also is in the pick-four sequence, and the diverse field of 10 for the one-mile race for 3-year-olds includes Gladyousawme, the winner of the $150,000 Louisiana Legacy in November at Delta, and Gracida, a Triple Crown nominee coming off a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in September.

Gladyousawme won the first three races of his career – all at two turns – before cutting back to one turn and finishing seventh against statebreds in the Louisiana Futurity on Dec. 31 at Fair Grounds.

“We’re back at two turns, and that will help him a little bit,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He didn’t run bad at six furlongs on the dirt. It probably is just not his thing. He’s back at two turns and should carry his speed around the two turns. He’ll be a little more forwardly placed as opposed to the race at Fair Grounds.”

The counterpart to the Prince, the $120,000 Starlet for 3-year-old fillies at a mile, has lost its probable favorite in the undefeated stakes winner Minit to Stardom. She will be scratched due to a sinus infection, trainer Al Stall Jr. said Wednesday. In her place, favoritism could go to Yes Gorgeous or Remember Daisy.

Stall has a quality filly in the $120,000 Matron in My Miss Chiff, who is shooting for her third straight stakes win. She won the Happy Ticket on Nov. 18, then captured the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint on Dec. 9. Both races were at six furlongs at Fair Grounds. The Matron is at five furlongs.

“We gave her a nice little freshening pointing for this race, and here we are,” Stall said.

Last year, My Miss Chiff ran third in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico.

“She’s a big, strong Into Mischief filly who is just very tough, very competitive,” Stall said.

The $120,000 Sprint, also at five furlongs, has drawn stakes winners Jack Snipe’s, Sea Vow, and Laughingsaintssong.

Mr. Al’s Gal, a winner of 8 of 11 starts, moves from turf back to dirt for the $145,000 Distaff. Her rivals include Hyper Piper, who is going for her fourth straight win, and the multiple stakes winner Pacific Pink.