Beverly Park finishes 2022 with 3rd straight win, 15th of year

Beverly Park ended a prolific 2022 on Saturday with his North American-best 15th victory of the year. He led at every call to win by 3 3/4 lengths in a $22,000 starter optional-claiming sprint at Fair Grounds.

Under a hand ride from Marcelino Pedroza Jr., the 5-year-old Munnings horse won for the third time in a row, paying off for bettors who made him the 4-5 post-time favorite in the 5 1/2-furlong race.

Click here for Fair Grounds entries and results.

Populist (6-1), a 6-year-old gelding, tracked the early pace and finished second. Cryptozonic (7-1), a 5-year-old gelding, closed from last in the field of eight to finish third, eight lengths off the lead. The race was for horses who started for a top claiming price of $5,000 the past two years or were in for a tag of $10,000 before that.

Beverly Park established early fractions of 22.71 and 46.47 seconds before being clocked at a winning time of 1:05.22 on a sealed main track in New Orleans that was rated good.

Owned and trained by Lynn Cash, Beverly Park finished the year with 30 starts. Those were two more than Pretty Loud’s 28, the next highest total in North America, according to Equibase.

The 15 wins were seven more than the nine horses who were tied for second most. Beverly Park also had the most trips to the winner’s circle in a single year since Rapid Redux finished with 19 in 2011.