Usual Suspect by a neck in Downthedustyroad Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A day after winning the 3,000th race of his training career, Karl Broberg accounted for his first Oaklawn Park stakes victory Saturday, when Usual Suspect wired her rivals in the $100,000 Downthedustyroad at 26-1.

She was a neck winner over Fastanista. It was another 5 1/2 lengths back to Georgia’s Reward in third.

Broberg reached the milestone of 3,000 wins Friday night at Sam Houston. Usual Suspect’s win Saturday gave him a jump on the next objective for his stable.

“Now it’s time to work to slowly improve quality, and what better way to get 3,001 than a stakes race,” Broberg said following the Downthedustyroad.

Usual Suspect ($54.40) jumped out to the lead at the start of the Downthedustyroad and proceeded to set uncontested fractions of 22.34 seconds for the opening quarter and 46.19 for the half-mile. In the late stages, she held off a bid from Fastanista. Usual Suspect covered six furlongs on a track upgraded to “good” in 1:12.28.

Richard Eramia was aboard Usual Suspect. She was making her first start for Broberg, having joined his barn a few months earlier.

“She’s even a little faster than what we thought early,” Broberg said. “She’s got a little more early zip. When they left Eramia alone, her heart got big.”

Usual Suspect is a daughter of Primary Suspect who races for her breeder, Starsky Weast. She is a half-sister to Weast Hill, a multiple stakes winner and earner of $462,848. Usual Suspect has now won 2 of 4 starts, and the $60,000 she earned Saturday lifted her bankroll to $80,200.

The Downthedustyroad was for fillies and mares bred in Arkansas.