Louisiana Derby and Lane's End Stakes Results
by Patricia Woo | Mar 29 2010
Mission Impazible and Dean's Kitten won the Louisiana Derby and the Lane's End Stakes, respectively, on Saturday, March 27. With the winner's share of each purse launching both into Kentucky Derby contention, these two horses are ones to watch on the road to the Run for the Roses.
With $450,000 going toward the winner of the race, the $750,000 Gr. 1 Louisiana Derby was a magnet for trainers hoping to get their charge into the starting gate of the Kentucky Derby in May. Held at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., the Louisiana Derby boasted a talented lineup, including race favorite Discreetly Mine, frontrunning A Little Warm and Le Comte Stakes-winning Ron the Greek. A Little Warm went to the front immediately under David Cohen with Todd Pletcher's Discreetly Mine and Javier Castellano chasing in second. Mission Impazible – with Rajiv Maragh in the irons – stalked the pace along the rail within striking distance, along with other rivals that included Drosselmeyer and The Program. At the top of the stretch, it was A Little Warm battling Discreetly Mine for the lead while Drosselmeyer made his own bid for the lead. And Mission Impazible went three-wide, rallying strongly in the final strides to hit the wire first in a winning time of 1:50.32. A Little Warm hung on for second, while the duo of Drosselmeyer and Kent Desormeaux edged past Discreetly Mine for third.
Rounding out the order of finish: Stay Put, Ron the Greek, The Program, Mister Mardi Gras, Fly Down, Wow Wow Wow, Hotep, Island Soul and Backtrack.
Mission Impazible, a son of Unbridled's Song and owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables, kicked off his 3-year-old campaign with a 6-furlong allowance race runner-up finish at Gulfstream Park. In his first graded stakes race as a 3-year-old, the Gr. 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 20, Mission Impazible came in fourth behind top Kentucky Derby contender Conveyance. Now, with winnings of $512,754, Mission Impazible himself is now a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender.
Also likely to join him is Dean's Kitten, who rallied to win the $500,000 Gr. 2 Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., a 1 1/8 mile race. The son of Kitten's Joy and jockey Cornelio Velasquez raced in fourth in the early going behind pacesetter Ranger Heartley. Dean's Kitten took over the lead on the far turn and turned back a challenge from Northern Giant and Calvin Borel on his way to a 2 ½ length victory in a time of 1:50.59. Race favorite Connemara had a poor start, but with the guidance of Russell Baze managed to overtake six rivals on his way to third place. Chief Counsel, Vow to Wager, Letsgetitonmon, Outlaw Man, Doubles Partner and Ranger Heartley rounded out the order of finish.
Trained by Michael Maker, Dean's Kitten was fourth in his 2010 debut, the Hallandale Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park. On March 6, he edged closer to the winner's circle with a runner-up performance in the Gr. 3 Palm Beach Stakes. Now, with the $291,000 he earned for his most recent win, Dean's Kitten bolstered his graded stakes earnings to $351,000 which all but guarantees him a berth in the Kentucky Derby.
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