With stable star Ova Charged showing the way and Spirited Beauty chasing her home in second, Brittlyn Stable's Star Guitar fillies filled out the exacta in the first running of the $75,000 Happy Ticket Stakes for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares on the opening-day Friday program at Fair Grounds.
“She ran to our expectations of just breezing today,” trainer Jose Camejo said of Ova Star. “We've been taking our time with her, giving her all summer. She went through a couple things and only worked her a couple times, and she showed off today that she is the best Louisiana-bred.”
Not racing since her win last March in the Page Cortez at Fair Grounds, Ova Charged proved she is still the top Louisiana-bred sprinter. The only fraction she didn't lead was the first as Drop Dead Sexy shot out to the front from the outside post, stopping the quarter-mile timer in :21.78 seconds.
Shuffled back after the break, Ova Charged's rider Jose Rodriguez waited for a lane then prompted her through, quickly making the lead at :45.28, and opening up in the homestretch. Following the entire way, stablemate Spirited Beauty cruised along in second through the stretch, showing energy and shrinking the final gap to two lengths. Snowball came late for third. Ova Charged cruised under the wire, stopping the clock at 1:11.04.
“I was thinking that if she was able to get in one race over the summer, we would enter her in the Breeders' Cup (Filly & Mare Sprint [G1]), but we decided to just let her be a horse,” Camejo said. “But that's something we are targeting for next year. Hopefully we keep her sound and she gets in.”
Ova Charged, who notched a fourth consecutive win, has a 6-1-0 record from seven career starts and $264,600 in earnings. The only stain on her near-perfect record is a runner-up finish to Souper Sensational in the 2021 Victory Ride Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park.
A homebred of Brittlyn Stable, Ova Charged was produced by the Dehere mare Charged Cotton. She returned $2.60.
The post ‘She Showed Today That She Is The Best Louisiana-Bred’: Speedster Ova Charged Tops Brittlyn Stable Exacta In Happy Ticket At Fair Grounds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
