Vacherie Girl finishes fast to win Crescent City Oaks
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
One Tapiture filly flew home while the other favored one flopped as Vacherie Girl easily won the $75,000 Crescent City Oaks and Steph’sfullasugar finished last at odds of 1-2.
Vacherie Girl ($12.20) won her debut and the Louisiana Champions Day Lassie early this Fair Grounds meet, regressed somewhat finishing third in the fillies division of the Louisiana Futurity in December, and threw in a clunker in a February stakes race at Delta Downs. But the Steve Asmussen barn had her back to her best Saturday as she bid boldly from mid-pack, took command in upper stretch, and drew away to a 3 ½-length victory under Ricardo Santana Jr. in the Crescent City Oaks. Vacherie Girl clocked 1:43.65 for one mile 70 yards over a fast dirt track and was followed home by Quickfast N Ahurry, who was two lengths better than third-place Saber Cut.
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As for Steph’sfullasugar, she had scored an easy debut win at Fair Grounds and routed foes in the Premier Star at Delta Downs, beating Vacherie Girl by more than 20 lengths. But Steph’sfullasugar was reluctant to load Saturday and after looming mildly on the far turn, she backed up badly through the homestretch and beat no one.
Asmussen trains Vacherie Girl for William and Corinne Heiligbrodt. The diminutive chestnut is out of Saucey Officer, by Officer.
Sydster all the way in Crescent City Derby
The No. 1 horse in the first race on the last day of the Fair Grounds racing season won his first stakes, and there will be nothing but “1s” in Sydster’s running line for the $75,000 Crescent City Derby.
Florent Geroux put Sydster on the lead and never looked back, backing up the pace and winning this Louisiana-bred dirt-route race by 1 ½ lengths over Jax Man. Luckenbacher finished third and odds-on favorite Langs Day finished evenly for fifth in his first start away from Delta Downs, where he’d won the first two races of his career.
Sydster ($5), trained by Eddie Johnston for Baronne Farms, was highly regarded enough before he started to go off as the 5-2 favorite facing 11 rivals in his career debut in November at Fair Grounds. He raced ineffectively in that sprint race but followed up with a maiden turf-route win and a first-level win around two turns on dirt before finishing second facing older foes in another dirt-route race. Sydster found these age-restricted rivals easier to handle and benefitted from a slow half-mile split of 49.36 seconds. He responded in upper stretch to Geroux’s urging and never was threatened, clocking 1:45.59 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast track.
Sydster is by Power Broker out of Tensas Salt, by Salt Lake.