Fair Grounds: Mr. Vegas Steals Bradley
Andrews T & S Racing’s Mr. Vegas assumed an easy lead and held on to win the Grade III Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap by 1 ½ lengths over David P. Halloway Racing’s Dubious Miss, who steadied slightly when the winner came in with a sixteenth of a mile to run, but it wasn’t enough for the stewards to change the order of finish. For older turf horses, the 1 1/16-mile Bradley kicks off a three race series that will also include the Feb. 25 Grade III Fair Grounds Handicap and the April 1 Grade II Mervin H. Muniz Memorial Handicap.
Jockey Miguel Mena piloted Mr. Vegas through fractions of 24.30, 49.41 and 1:13.84 before stopping the timer in 1:43.49. The 5-year-old Freud gelding kept his Fair Grounds record a perfect three-for-three while improving his overall record to 7-5-0 in 21 starts and increasing his career earnings to $260,331.
“I saw it again and he did come out a touch, so I wasn’t sure if it was enough to change the outcome, winning trainer Richie Scherer said after surviving a stewards’ inquiry that lasted nearly 10 minutes. “He did come out a little bit. I’m glad the stewards saw it my way.”
Mr. Vegas paid $12.40, $6.40 and $4.40, while Dubious Miss returned $8.60 and $6. Chester Miller & Patrick Dupuy’s Strike Impact was 2 ¼ lengths back in third and paid $4.80.