Underpressure repeats in Louisiana Premier Championship

Gerard Melancon turns 54 in May and Underpressure turned 7 in January, but rider and horse looked plenty spry winning the $125,000 Louisiana Premier Championship on Wednesday at Delta Downs for the second year in a row.

Underpressure dropped to the back of the pack and had to run down pacesetting Double Star through the abbreviated Delta homestretch, but the gelding was very much up to the task. Double Star finished with good energy, but Underpressure had all the late momentum and was up by one length in the 1 1/16-mile Championship, the last of six Louisiana-bred stakes Wednesday afternoon in western Louisiana. Jimi’s A Star was third, no match for the top two.

Underpressure, a gelded son of Birdstone and the Charismatic mare Charming Colleen, paid $4.80 as the favorite and was timed in 1:46.60 over a fast track while racing on the Louisiana-bred Premier program for the fifth year in a row. He started in the Premier Prince in 2017 and has raced in the Championship four straight years. This was his seventh win from 14 Delta starts.

“He loves this track,” Melancon said.

Underpressure dropped back to last into the first turn and stayed at or near the back until the field approached the far turn, when Melancon stoked him up. Moving inside, then between horses around the bend, and finally tipping to the far outside, Underpressure loomed for the leader at the furlong pole and pushed clear to win going away. This was the gelding’s 14th win as he pushed his career bankroll past $800,000.

:: Start earning weekly cashback on your wagering today. Click to learn more.

“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” said Chris Richard. Richard trains Underpressure with an assist from his wife, the gelding’s owner, Mallory Richard. “He’s as solid as they come. I just try not to get in his way.”

* Quickfast N Ahurry had knocked on the door in three previous stakes starts but crossed over the threshold Wednesday with a three-quarter-length win in the $100,000 Premier Distaff. Second to Saints N Muskets in the Lookout Stakes earlier this Delta meet, Quickfast N Ahurry collared that rival in upper stretch of the Distaff before drawing clear late under a well-judged ride from Gerard Melancon. Snowball rallied for third, a nose out of second, and favored Net A Bear was fourth. Steve Flint trains Quickfast N Ahurry for breeder Carrol Castille’s Whispering Oaks Farm. The 4-year-old filly is a daughter of Closing Argument and Wynning Ride, by Candy Ride.