It was billed as a two-horse match race between millionaires Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon, and that's exactly what the Grade 3, $150,000 Louisiana Stakes became on Saturday at the Fair Grounds. Turning for home in their sixth meeting on the track, Mandaloun (4-5) and Midnight Bourbon (6-5) drew even near the center of the course and remained locked in battle until the sixteenth pole. Jockeys Florent Geroux and Joel Rosario each gave their mounts their all, but it was Mandaloun and Geroux who prevailed by three-quarters of a length at the wire.
The Juddmonte homebred by Into Mischief, trained by Brad Cox and racing off a seven-month layoff, covered 1 1/16 miles over the fast main track in 1:42.52. It was Geroux's fourth win on the card.
Each millionaire received Lasix for the first time in Saturday's contest, and trainer Steve Asmussen added blinkers to the equipment of Midnight Bourbon.
Midnight Bourbon broke in a bit at the start, bumping Mandaloun slightly, then went straight to the lead under Rosario. Midnight Bourbon had a one-length advantage over Sprawl entering the backstretch, setting fractions of 24.39 and 48.25 seconds, then pulling away to a two-length lead nearing the half-mile pole.
Geroux sent Mandaloun up the rail into second approaching the far turn, then angled to the outside of Midnight Bourbon to mount his stretch challenge. Midnight Bourbon went wide into the lane, pushing Mandaloun out to the center of the track, and the two were head-and-head for the next eighth of a mile.
Battling fiercely, the two millionaires dug in gamely down the stretch. Mandaloun got his head in front at the sixteenth pole, and continued to inch away toward the wire. At the finish, it was Mandaloun by three-quarters of a length over Midnight Bourbon, denying Rosario and Asmussen a fourth win on Saturday's card in New Orleans. It was several lengths back to Warrant in third, also trained by Cox, and Spa City checked in fourth over Sprawl.
Bred in Kentucky by his owner, Mandaloun is out of the Group 2-winning Empire Maker mare Brooch. He impressed on debut at Keeneland in 2020, then won a first-level allowance before finishing third in the 2021 Lecomte (G3). Mandaloun returned to win the G2 Risen Star, but never showed up next out in the G2 Louisiana Derby. Still, he'd earned enough points to Run for the Roses, and Mandaloun ran a giant race to finish second behind Medina Spirit in the shadow of the Twin Spires.
Mandaloun won the listed Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth five weeks later, and was awarded the victory in the G1 Haskell when Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified in July. Unraced since that start on July 17, Mandaloun returned plenty fit to capture the Louisiana Stakes in what could be a prep for the world's richest horse race, the G1 Saudi Cup on Feb. 26. Overall, Mandaloun's record stands at six wins from nine starts for earnings of over $1.75 million.
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