Photo: CDI
Louie Roussel III and Ronnie Lamarque’s Recapturetheglory
returned to the form he showed winning the Grade II Illinois Derby three years
ago when he proved clearly best by a length and a quarter in Saturday’s $60,000
Louisiana Handicap.
After winning the sixth race of his career and increasing
his lifetime earnings to $542,646 from 23 starts, the 6-year-old son of
Cherokee Run paid $14, $4.60 and $3.20 and toured the 1 1/16-mile distance in
1:43.41.
“I told (trainer) Louie (Roussel) that he was going
to improve off of that last race,” said winning jockey Jamie Theriot.
“He kind of emptied out on me that day – he was a little short – but
today he just took off and gave me everything he had when I asked him, just
like I knew he would.”
Adele Dilschneider’s Apart got up for second in the Louisiana ’Cap to return
$2.40 and $2.10 while finishing a neck to the good of Jim Tafel’s Country
Flavor, who paid $3. Richard Rudolph and Michael Vranich’s Royal Express
set the pace with fractions of 23.33 and 47.10 before tiring to sixth.
WILD ABOUT MARIE WINS DR. A. B. LEGGIO MEMORIAL
Ike
and Dawn Thrash’s Wild About Marie set early fractions of 23.17
and 47.39 and then continued willingly when challenged by Team Valor
International and Highfield Stock Farm’s Chantilly Nayla to win Saturday’s
$60,000 Dr. A. B. Leggio Memorial by a neck while touring the
about 5 1/2-furlong distance over a Stall-Wilson turf course rated
“yielding” in 1:05.49.
The winner, trained by Jeff Thornbury and ridden by Richard
Eramia, paid $22.60, $11.20 and $7.20 and increased her career earnings to
$122,950 with her fourth win in nine lifetime starts.
Chantilly Nayla ranged up alongside Wild About Marie in the
late stages, could not stay with that one but clearly held the place by
finishing 2 1/4-lengths in front of WinStar Farm’s Mimi’s Bling.
Chantilly Nayla returned $9.60 and $7.40 and Mimi’s Bling paid $4.80 to show.
EARLY RETURN CRUISES IN F. W. GAUDIN MEMORIAL
In
the opening race of the gala Road to the Derby Kickoff Day program, Richard,
Bertram and Elaine Klein’s Early Return provided just that for those who
backed him in the $60,000 F. W. Gaudin Memorial with mutuels of $5.60
and $2.40 while increasing his career earnings to $232,806 with his sixth
victory in 19 lifetime starts. After taking command out of the gate, the Steve
Margolis trainee cut out early fractions of 23.03 and 46.20 and continued
willingly the rest of the way to accomplish the six-furlong distance in 1:09.51
while posting a 1 1/4-length score under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan. Favored
Mambo Galliano, owned by Louie Roussel III, pressed the pace of the
winner throughout, could not catch that one but was clearly best of the
others. He paid $2.10 to place.