Mississippi Delta gives Geroux third win of the day in Ladies' Sprint

Jackpot Ranch and Mike Rutherford’s Mississippi Delta put to rest a five-race losing streak, taking the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies’ Sprint, the last race on Kentucky Downs’ 10-race program, by 1 3/4 lengths over Rapid Rhythm.

The 4-year-old daughter of Giant’s Causeway broke on top in the first few strides under Florent Geroux, but let 47-1 shot Quiet Prediction with Sophie Doyle up take control of the beginning stages of the race with opening fractions of :23.75 and :47.97. At the top of the stretch, Quiet Prediction gave way to the eventual winner, who held off a late charge from runner-up Rapid Rhythm with Julien Leparoux in the irons. The Brian Hernandez, Jr.-piloted Rumble Doll came from off the pace to take the show spot.

Mississippi Delta gave Geroux his third victory of the afternoon, which included a win in Kentucky Downs’ feature event, the $600,000 Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup (G3) aboard Da Big Hoss. Geroux finished second in the two other stakes races: aboard Songsational in the More Than Ready Mile and No Fault Of Mine in the One Dreamer Stakes.

"Everything went good,” Geroux said. “You obviously want to win them all, and I don't really like finishing second. The horse liked the course here, but some don't show anything. When they like the course like she did, it makes things so much easier."

This was the first victory for Mississippi Delta since her 4-year-old debut in a Mar. 6 allowance race at Gulfstream Park. She placed in three graded stakes this year finishing second in Gulfstream’s Honey Fox and Woodbine’s Nassau Stakes (both Grade 2 events). Prior to her Kentucky Downs triumph, she finished third in the Royal North (Grade 3) at Woodbine behind Lady Shipman.

"She shipped in from Woodbine in great shape,” said trainer Mark Casse’s assistant David Carroll. “Mark felt like she runs well fresh and she also like the yielding course, which we got today. The last work was brilliant, she's been on her toes all week and she's been sitting on a big race. Florent rode her beautifully."

Mississippi Delta finished the 6 ½-furlong distance in a time of 1:18.79 and was the 3-2 favorite at post time returning $5, $3.60 and $2.80. She was bred in Kentucky by her co-owner Mike Rutherford.

All-sources handle on the card totaled $5,769,505.23, shattering the prior mark of $4,603,239.82 set a week earlier on opening day. On-track betting totaled $214,467.40, down from $238,18.10 a week earlier, with many fans leaving after a thunderstorm blew through after the sixth race. The four stakes started with race 7.

“Everything came together today that we’ve been working on a long time,” said track president and part-owner Corey Johnsen. “The horsemen and the horseplayers responded with record handle…. I feel fortunate we were able to complete the card and we thank all the horsemen for sticking with the program. I think we’ll have another great day tomorrow.”

Source: Kentucky Downs (Jennie Rees)