Cathy & Bob Zollars and Mark Wagner’s Thiskyhasnolimit
took advantage of an uncontested lead and finished strongly to win the
$100,000 Louisiana Handicap by one length over Jim Tafel’s
Fast Alex. For older horses at 1 1/16 miles, the
Louisiana
starts a three-race series that will also include the Feb. 25 Grade
III, $125,000 Mineshaft and the April 1 Grade II, $400,000 New Orleans
Handicap.
Jockey
Shane Sellers, aboard the
5-year-old son of Sky Mesa for the first time, jumped to an early lead
and breezed through uncontested early fractions of 24.70, 48.71 and
1:13.28. The moderate fractions left Thiskyhasnolimit
with something left for the stretch, powering home to a final time of
1:43.67.
“He is a very good looking animal,” Sellers said. “You can tell, he made $700,000, so he was cut out to be a good horse.”
Making
his first start since July, the winner bettered his career record to
6-4-1 in 19 starts while increasing his career earnings to $767,828.
“He’s put in some tremendous work and just thought this was a good spot for him,” said
Steve Asmussen, wining
trainer in this race for the fourth time. “Shane gave him a great trip. I
think he was pretty fortunate that the deal didn’t have much pace in it
and it went his way, but it’s a great spot
for him to come back in.”
Thiskyhasnolimit paid $12.20, $6.40 and $3.80. Fast Alex paid $4.60 and $3.20, while Bourque Goldstein Thoroughbreds’ favored
Alma d’Oro was three-quarters of a length back in third, returning $3.20.