Firesan Fire wins Louisiana Derby
Published 3:54 pm Saturday, March 14, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — Friesan Fire surged ahead down the stretch and left the field in his muddy wake, winning the $600,000 Louisiana Derby by more than seven lengths on Saturday to solidify his credentials as a top contender for the Kentucky Derby.
Favored from the morning line until post time, Friesan Fire pulled into the lead coming out of the final turn on a sloppy track at the Fair Grounds Race Course to complete a clean sweep of his first three starts as a 3-year-old.
The colt also won the Lecomte and Risen Star stakes at the Fair Grounds earlier this year. All three victories came under jockey Gabriel Saez, who kept Friesan Fire near the front and out of trouble until he began to challenge for the lead at the end of the back stretch.
Trained by Larry Jones, Friesan Fire, a little more than a 2-1 favorite, covered the 1 1/16-mile race distance in 1:43.46 and paid $6.40, $4.20 and $3.
Papa Clem, the early pacesetter, was second and paid $4.80 and $4.20. Terrain finished third and paid 5.20, with other Derby hopefuls Giant Oak winding up fourth and Patena eighth in the nine-horse field.
Initially, 10 horses entered the race, but Nowhere to Hide was scratched. More was expected of Patena, who finished second in the Lecomte and was later bought by IEAH Stables and handed over to trainer Rick Dutrow, who also trains 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown.
Patena came in with no race experience on a sloppy track, however, and jockey Robby Albarado was helpless to stop him from fading.
Flying Pegasus, which had finished second in the Risen Star, also struggled and wound up sixth.
Earlier at the Fair Grounds, Calvin Borel rode Rachel Alexandra (2.60) to an early lead and held on for a comfortable victory over Flying Spur in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks; 10-1 long shot Macho Again ($23.60) stormed past Secret Getaway down the stretch in the $500,000 New Orleans Handicap; and Proudinsky ($8.80) captured the $500,000 Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap on the turf for a second straight year, edging Nownownow and El Caballo in a photo finish.
