Filly Big Time, gelding Jimmy Two Times take Louisiana Futurity races
As they say, in the end, it’s a line drive in the box score. Valene Farms LLC’s Big Time may have given her legion of backers some anxious moments off the far turn and in deep stretch, but under a relentless stretch drive, she reeled in Spirited Beauty and Winning Romance to win the $100,000 Louisiana Futurity for state-bred 2-year-old fillies by a half-length at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Sent off at 3-5, Big Time broke towards the back of the field-of-seven under Brian Hernandez, Jr. and immediately found herself over four lengths behind loose leader Halfglamorous over a sloppy and sealed main track that catered to speed all day. Halfglamorous set solid fractions of 22.12 and 46.66 and led the field by two lengths off the far turn. That’s when the complexion began to change.
Hernandez was able to shift Big Time outside mid-stretch and take dead aim on the trio of leaders. That group now included not only a tiring Halfglamorous, but 21-1 Spirited Beauty, who had surged to a short lead, and a rallying 3-1 Winning Romance. The quartet raced in tandem for a few strides but late in the game it was clear Big Time’s class was going to prevail under a measured and confident ride.
Hernandez Jr. got to know Big Time in the locally run Louisiana Lassie on Dec. 12, when she eased home a 3½-length winner in the mud. While matters weren’t as easy this time around, he knew what he had beneath him.
"She had to work for it today," Hernandez said. "That's the thing, she wants to win. She guts it out. She didn't have the perfect conditions. She kind of got buried a little bit early on, took quite a bit of kickback and she wasn't sure about it, but when I tipped her out turning for home, she did the rest. She just enjoys her job."
Big Time has proven plenty precocious in her first year of racing for trainer Dallas Stewart. The daughter of Astrology beat open maiden special weight foes by a head on debut at Churchill Downs at 38-1 in June but was a much more known commodity in the Lassie, when she settled early, came through on the inside entering the far turn, and powered clear late. Big Time is now 3-for-3, with $160,564 in earnings, with a flair for the dramatic.
"None of it's easy," Stewart said. "She showed up, she ran hard in the mud, she's 3-for-3 and she knows how to win. We will see where we go from here. Hopefully bigger and better things. Brian did a great job and I'm very thankful to train for a man like (owner) Murray Valene."
Jimmy Two Times dominates male division
Reconfirming a now obvious love for a sloppy race track, Andrus J. Pellerin’s Jimmy Two Times made it 2-for-2 locally with a dominant 7½-length win over heavily favored Swot Analysis in Thursday’s $100,000 Louisiana Futurity for state-bred 2-year-olds at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
After heavy rains rendered the main track sloppy in the matter of minutes just prior to first pot, it produced speedy times throughout the card. Sent off as the 7-1 third choice in the Futurity for the boys, Jimmy Two Times broke running under Colby Hernandez. He dueled with Perfect Perigee through fractions of 21.83 and 45.84, while Swot Analysis, the 3-10 favorite, chased four-wide from the outside.
The top two continued to click along early, taking their battle to the far turn. Jimmy Two Times finally shook his pace rival in early stretch and then braced for a challenge from Swot Analysis that never came. Jimmy Two Times kicked clear mid-stretch and widened with ease nearing the line, completing the six furlongs in 1:12.35. Swot Analysis held second, some 2½ lengths over a rallying 9-1 Creole Charlie in third.
Jimmy Two Times, a gelded son of Half Ours, won on debut at Evangeline Downs in June but subsequently struggled in a pair of state-bred stakes, running fifth in the D.S. Shine Young in August and seventh in the Louisiana Cup Juvenile at Louisiana Downs in September.
Trainer Keith Bourgeois regrouped and dropped Jimmy Two Times in class, running him in a state-bred N2L allowance here Nov. 29. The track came up sloppy and the result was an easy 4½-length win. Jimmy Two Times used that victory as a springboard to his first stakes win and is now 3-for-5, with earnings of $111,240. And, needless to say, Bourgeois wasn’t complaining when the skies opened up about 45 minutes before the Futurity.
“I was hoping we’d get rain and when I looked at the forecast, I saw rain, and I was for sure very, very happy,” Bourgeois said. “He’s getting better. In the Futurity (at Evangeline) he had a bad cold, and it didn’t work out in the next two races and when we came back here, he sure ran a big race with Colby.”
Swot Analysis was a hot favorite off a 9¾-length maiden special weight win here Nov. 27 for trainer Mark Casse but seemed to spin his wheels a bit over a track that catered to front runners. The son of Anchor Down, who was sixth on debut at Churchill Downs against open maiden special weight foes in November, pressed and drew off in his local score, but he was further back than last time Thursday and was put in chase mode early under Declan Carroll.
“We had a wide trip around there and he didn’t break as sharp as I’d like,” Carroll said. “He’s a lot better than that. The track is playing pretty quick and they are holding today.”