Evangeline Downs held its annual celebration of Louisiana-bred thoroughbreds with an exciting Louisiana Legends Night card on June 1. The tournament features six stakes races, each worth $100,000 to runners run after the government. All races, including those previously scheduled on turf, were contested because of the sloppy main track.
The star of the night was Grade 3 winner Brittlyn Stable ova charges in Mademoiselle.
A 1-9 favourite, Ova Charged broke through strongly and battled for early pace with Meg is flashy And Charlie T Passed the opening quarter-mile in :21.75. Ova Charged, with rider Jose Guerrero in the irons, kicked it into another gear and opened up a three-way advantage over Charlie T, while Luyv made a wide bid over half a mile in :45.14.
With a long way to go, Ova Charged’s lead stretched to almost four lengths, but her stride shortened considerably in the final 50 yards. She may have worried her connections a bit, but she managed to pull off a big win over Luyv and a strong one. Nothing a third neck back.
The final time for 5 1/2 furlongs was 1:04.44 in a race for mares and mares 3 years and older. Ova Charged paid $2.20 to win.
Ova Charged was trained by Shane Wilson and won for the 14th time in 17 starts. With a winning prize of $60,000, her career capital currently stands at $849,200.
Bred by Brittlyn, Ova Charged was sired by Clear Creek Stud Star guitar . 6 year old chestnut colt out of Dehere pony electrically charged cotton .
Videotapes: Louisiana Legend Mademoiselle S. (BT)
Another winner on Saturday
- Not on Herb main to an impressive 2 3/4 length victory while also winning his second stakes of the season in the 5 1/2 furlong Sprint for 3-year-olds and up.
- Tdzshininluckystar overcame the biggest upset of the night with a stunning 27-1 victory in the one-mile Cheval for 3-year-olds, winning by two lengths.
- for Harper maintained a big rally from the back of the herd and pulled away to capture the mile-long Turf Distaff for mares and mares of 3 and over, winning by 3 1/2 lengths in the off-field event.
- lightofmaine fought hard throughout the trip to win the one-mile Soiree for the 3-year-old fillies to win by a length.
- Who took the money? It takes every yard of the 1/16 mile long Turf to catch Spaceship with the nose at the closest position on the Legends Night card. Turf, a race for children 3 years old and up, was also moved to the main track.
Evangeline Downs honored Louisiana Legends throughout the evening. Mark Guidry, Calvin Borel, Charles Ashy Sr., Larry Robideaux, Joseph “Spanky” Broussard and Eddie Johnston were among the names nominated by fans for this year’s Legends Night festival.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
