Maragh stars with Louisiana Derby victory
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CMC) — Rajiv Maragh upstaged Shaun Bridgmohan’s triple and another victory for Patrick Husbands, when he won the prestigious Louisiana Derby on a memorable day for Caribbean jockeys on Saturday at the Fair Grounds racetrack.
Maragh gave Hall-of-Fame trainer Todd Pletcher another contender for the Kentucky Derby, when Mission Impazible had the perfect ride under the Jamaican jockey, and came from behind to his first race as a three-year-old.
Mission Impazible, a three-year-old, grey colt, covered the 1,800-metre trip in one minute, 50.32 seconds, and paid US $16.20 to win.
“My horse was always in contention and always tracking comfortably,” said Maragh, who was riding Mission Impazible for the first time.
“He’s got to be ranked among the top three-year-olds now with a win like this. There was a lot left in the tank, there definitely was. He didn’t seem worn out after the race.”
Mission Impazible, a 7-1 bet, broke sharply from the second stall, and was never far behind the pacesetting A Little Warm while saving ground along the rail.
When the field hit the top of the stretch, A Little Warm, under David Cohen, and another Pletcher-trained animal Discreetly Mine, the favourite, under Javier Castellano, were heads apart.
But Mission Impazible remained close from a three-wide path, and continued to bare down on the leaders, and finally overtook them in the final yards for his second career victory on a dry and fast main track.
Pletcher gave credit to Maragh for the way he handled the animal.
“That was kind of the way we had talked about it,” he said. “We wanted to secure a little bit of position from the inside and hopefully come away stalking the leaders. Then he was able to find a little more down the lane.”
A Little Warm was able to hold on for second, Drosselmeyer finished third, and Discreetly Mine came in fourth.
Bridgmohan got his day rolling, when he steered the 8-5 bet Depaul to a 2-3/4 lengths victory in the US$41,000 second race.
Depaul, a three-year-old, chestnut colt, covered 1,200m in 1 min, 10.58 secs, after getting clear near the stretch and proving best in the stretch.
Bridgmohan added the US $41,000 fourth race, when 8-5 shot She Wants Cash won by half-length.
She Wants Cash, a three-year-old, bay filly, gained the edge in the middle of the stretch of the 1,200m trip, and ran on to clock 1 min, 11.81 secs.
Ace Barbadian reinsman Husbands put his name in the frame, when 5-1 chance Porter’s Gate won the US $43,000 fifth race.
Porter’s Gate, a four-year-old, bay gelding, owned by Barbados-based Canadian business executive Eugene Melnyk, ran 1,100m in 1 min, 03.15 secs — 58 hundredths of a second outside of the track record.
Bridgmohan completed his three-timer with a 6-1/4 length victory aboard the 6-5 favourite Heavenville in the US $60,000 seventh race, the Crescent City Derby Stakes.
Bridgmohan continues to lead the way in the jockeys’ standings at Fair Grounds with 72 wins, and remains two clear of James Graham with John Jacinto third on 65.