Dance Caller Scores at Fair Grounds

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations’ Dance Caller made or forced the pace throughout in Friday’s featured $49,000 allowance optional claiming sprint at Fair Grounds and withheld the late surge of Darren Fleming’s Island Soul by a length in the late stages.

Ridden by Miguel Mena and trained by Tim Glyshaw, Dance Caller, a 4-year-old son of Concorde’s Tune, toured the six furlongs in 1:10.19 after early splits of 22.04 and 44.75. He returned mutuels of $8.20, $5.80 and $3 and increased his career earnings to $178,494 with his sixth career victory in 15 lifetime starts.

Island Soul, a contestant in last season’s Grade II Louisiana Derby, had no speed but rallied in the stretch to be clearly second best, finishing a length to the good of Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein’s Homerun Berti.

That rival challenged for command in mid-stretch but could not sustain the bid against the top two. 

Island Soul returned $7.20 and $3.60 and Homerun Berti paid $2.40 for the show.

Racing resumes Saturday at Fair Grounds with a special early post time of 12:10 p.m. to accommodate the 13-race program of Louisiana Champions Day, with 11 six-figure stakes races for accredited Louisiana-breds, including three Quarter Horse races, with a total purse value of $1.1 million.