Thoroughbred owner Evelyn Benoit
got her first horse as a 5-year-old sitting on her father’s knee, but
she’s been a positive force in the Louisiana Thoroughbred breeding
industry for more years
than she cares to divulge. However, as an owner, she’s never had a day
like Thanksgiving Day of 2011, when she saw her silks posed in the
winner’s circle three times during the course of Fair Grounds’ 2011-2012
gala Opening Day program.
“What
a day!” Benoit said Friday morning in the glow of the morning after.
“I’ve won two races on the same day before, but I can’t recall ever
winning three. And I’ve never even had the honor of running a horse in
the Thanksgiving Handicap before, and to win it is a thrill beyond
belief. I’m originally from
Houma, but my husband (Maurice) and I have made New
Orleans
our home for many, many years. We consider ourselves New Orleanians, and
the Thanksgiving Handicap and Opening Day at Fair Grounds is very
special to us. Also, to win three races on that
day with three different jockeys and two different trainers just adds
to the thrill.
Racing under the nom-de-course of Brittlyn Stable, Benoit won the third race Thursday with
Beanwah’smachine, trained by Al Stall Jr. and ridden by
Shane Sellers; the seventh with Sunday’s Child, trained by Stall with
Rosie Napravnik astride; and the featured
$75,000 Thanksgiving Handicap with
Gantry, trained by Ron Faucheux with
Richard Eramia aboard.
“We
were very humbled by the spirit of the whole holiday,” said Benoit,
“and at dinner after the races we all offered our thanks to God for
all our blessings.
“I
wish we could make people understand what a thrill it is to be in this
business,” Benoit said. “We need more people to support horseracing,
and I’ve tried to be a positive force in promoting the thrill of owning
Thoroughbreds and at the same time improve the quality of
Louisiana-bred stock.”
Of course, there can no better poster child for the Louisiana-bred horse than Brittlyn Stable’s
Star Guitar, who is on course to move closer to becoming the top all-time Louisiana-bred money earner in Fair Grounds’
$150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic on
Dec. 10. Star Guitar has
won the last two renewals of the Classic, as well as the 2008 Louisiana
Champions Day Sprint and the 2007 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile.
“Star
Guitar is an amazing story,” Benoit said. “His mother died right after
he was foaled. I remember him looking at her with this concerned
look on his face immediately after he was foaled. It was like he was
saying: ‘Come on, Mom. Get Up and take care of me.’ And then, when he
was a 2-year-old, my husband was seriously injured in a traffic accident
on Nov. 6 and ‘Star’ won the Juvenile a couple
of weeks later.
“When
Gantry won the Thanksgiving Handicap yesterday, he reminded me off all
the enjoyment I’ve gotten from Star Guitar’s races over the years,”
Benoit said. “I was especially happy for Ron (trainer Faucheux). “He
has done an amazing job with Gantry, and I know he took special
satisfaction from beating his stepfather (owner-trainer
Louie Roussel III) yesterday (owner of last year’s Thanksgiving Handicap winner
Mambo Galliano who finished fifth in the 2011 running.)
“Yesterday,
I was especially pleased with the way Beanwah’smachine won his race,”
said Benoit. “Hopefully, he can come back in a couple of weeks
and win this year’s Juvenile on Louisiana Champions Day.
“I
hope I can recover my voice a little bit before tomorrow,” Benoit said.
“I’m still hoarse from all my cheering yesterday, but tomorrow I’m
supposed to get up and sing a song along with my son (celebrated
Louisiana musician Tab Benoit) at one of his gigs downtown. I always enjoy doing that.”
FIRST TRAINING QUADRUPLE FOR CONDITIONER
AL STALL JR. COMES OPENING DAY
The highlight (so far) of trainer
Al Stall Jr.’s career came in November of 2010 when he saddled Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s
Blame to defeat the previously undefeated
Zenyatta, who went on to Horse of the Year honors in the Grade I 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Also, of course, the native New Orleanian Stall boasts multiple trainer championships from previous seasons at the Fair Grounds.
However,
the affable young horseman had never saddled four winners on a single
racing program until he accomplished that feat during the Thanksgiving
Day Opening Day program at Fair Grounds on Thursday.
Stall won Thursday’s third event with Brittlyn Stable’s
Beanwah’smachine, ridden by Shane Sellers; the fourth with Columbine Stable’s
Cornicelli, C. J. McMahon aboard; the fifth with Joe Agular’s
Sharp Tongue Lady, Sellers up again; and the seventh with Brittlyn Stable’s
Sunday’s Child, Rosie Napravnik astride.
“One
time, I won two races here and two more at Delta Downs on the same
day,” Stall said Friday morning outside his barn, “but never four at
the same race track on the same day. Even my losers yesterday ran well.
I’ve won three on the same day maybe twice in my career, but usually,
every time I have a bunch of horses in that I think will run well, I
usually lose all of ’em and get ready to go into
a deep depression.
“But
I was especially pleased the way Beanwah’smachine ran yesterday,” said
Stall. “He seems like he’s going to be a nice little colt for us
and I’ll be looking the Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile for him on Dec. 10.
“Also, we’re pointing Brittlyn Stable’s
Star Guitar to the Classic on Champions Day,” said Stall, but judging by the way (Klaravich Stable and William Lawrence’s)
Populist Politics ran yesterday (winning Fair Grounds’ $60,000
Mr. Sulu Stakes), the Champions Day Classic may turn out to be a real ‘rumble in the jungle.’”