Brian Hernandez Jr. engineered a $72.60 front-end surprise aboard Cavalry Charge in Saturday's Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes on the New Orleans, La., racetrack's turf course, holding off a late run by Jose Ortiz and Adhamo to win by a head. Halo Again, ridden by Joel Rosario, finished another head back in third and it was a neck to Santin, the 5-2 favorite who finished fourth in the field of 11.
Time of the nine-furlong race on firm turf was 1:53.06.
A 5-year-old gelding by Honor Code trained by Dallas Stewart, Cavalry Charge is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, William Sandbrook and Robert Masiello. Bred in Kentucky by Glencrest Farm LLC, the Fair Grounds Stakes winner was produced from the Candy Ride mare, Sweet Talkin. He was a $375,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase from the Four Star Sales consignment.
Breaking from the inside post, Cavalry Charge was joined on the front end by Two Emmys, the 3-1 second betting choice who broke from the 11 post under James Graham. Those two raced as a team through fractions of :24.79, :49.70 and 1:14.10 through the first six furlongs. Cavalry Charge got stronger as the field turned into the stretch as Two Emmys began to retreat, eventually finished 10th.
The bay gelding passed the furlong grounds with a 2 1/2-length advantage after a mile in 1:40.10 and looked home free. That was until Chad Brown-trained Adhamo – 13 lengths behind in the early going while trailing field and 4 1/2 lengths back with an eighth to go – came flying late on the far outside and just missed in his American debut. Adhamo is an Irish-bred who raced in France until being imported late last year.
The win was the fifth in 16 starts for Cavalry Charge, who was coming off a ninth-place finish in his stakes debut in the Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan. 22.
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