JOURNAL SPORTS
Pre-race favorite Uno Mas Bourbon came from off the pace to earn his second career victory in his first stakes appearance after surviving an objection in Saturday’s 42th running of Louisiana Downs’ $250,000 Super Derby.
Uno Mas Bourbon, who had shipped from Kentucky off a third-place finish in an allowance race, was nearly last early as The Donegal Clan rocketed out of the gate to command the pace through opening fractions of :23.83 and :48.32 for the first half mile.
At the top of the stretch, the winner came through a narrow opening between horses, and drew clear to win by 1¼ lengths over the pacesetter as the slight 3-1 favorite. The final time for the 1 1/8-mile race was 1:51.02 over a fast track.
Jockey Ben Curtis on eventual third-place finisher Regalo claimed foul against jockey Francisco Arrieta aboard Uno Mas Bourbon after those two horses battled through the stretch, but stewards let the result stand.
“He’s a nice horse,” Arrieta said. “When I rode him in Kentucky, I got in trouble. He took off and got tired, but still ran a great number. He was fighting me down the backstretch that day. Today, he was nice and relaxed. We got in a little tight, but when he found another gear, he took off. He ran great.”
The Donegal Clan, off at 25-1, who was making his first start since early July, held on determinedly for second.
Runnin Munnin, Cornishman, Carolo Rapido, Django, Tdzshininluckystar, Cali Dreamin, and Real Man Violin completed the order of finish behind the top three.