Fair Grounds: Determinedly wins highly anticipated allowance

Determinedly (8-5) set a slow pace all the way around the track, leading from gate to wire to win by a neck in a much-anticipated allowance race for 3-year-olds Saturday at Fair Grounds.

With Luis Sáez riding for trainer Mark Casse, the Cairo Prince colt owned by John Oxley was clocked at 1:45.26 for the 1 1/16 miles on the drying track that was rated fast. He set fractions of 25.31, 48.94, 1:13.01 and 1:38.36.

Click here for Fair Grounds entries and results.

Post-time favorite Tapit’s Conquest (1-1), who had been cross-entered and then scratched from the featured Lecomte Stakes (G3), closed from last to finish second. Silver Heist (16-1) was in mid-pack throughout the race and finished third, a length behind Determinedly. Tapit Shoes (6-1) was fourth throughout the race, and that was where he finished, five lengths up the track. Invulnerable (5-1) stalked the early lead before fading to last, 12 1/4 lengths behind the winner.

The 2-1 morning-line favorite Banishing was scratched, because he “scraped up a hind leg” and absorbed “a couple of little cuts” after casting in his stall overnight, trainer Brendan Walsh told Horse Racing Nation. “It doesn’t look like it’s anything serious, but we obviously can’t run him. He shouldn’t be off for very long at all.”

The Godolphin homebred colt by Ghostzapper won by 8 1/2 lengths in a maiden-breaking performance last month over the same course and distance he would have run Saturday at Fair Grounds.

Saturday’s race was run at the same distance as the Lecomte, which was scheduled to go 2 1/2 hours later. Written for 3-year-olds who were non-winners of two, the allowance race also allowed for the use of Lasix where the Lecomte did not.