Shook Up Breaks Maiden in Smashing Fashion

The storm that came through New Orleans yesterday was little compared to the earthquake Regis Racing’s Shook Up caused when she hit the racetrack in the sixth race at Fair Ground Race Course. An athletic type with a classy demeanor and the same gray color as her sire, 2014 champion stallion Tapit, Shook Up is a daughter of Grade I-winning Awesome Again mare Sugar Shake and she ran to her pedigree and then some.

Sent off at 2-5 odds in the six-filly field, Shook Up sat comfortably in second place before launching her bid on the turn and decimating her competition by 13½ comfortable lengths while never being asked. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the Kentucky-bred filly was making her second start after a seven-furlong debut on Nov. 23 in which she lugged in and steadied before finishing a game second by three-quarters of a length.

“She’s special – she really is,” Asmussen said.  “To have a nice daughter of Tapit is always exciting.  We’ve been very lucky in that area.”

Finishing in second was another Asmussen trainee worth following, Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Echo Warrior. Making her debut, the daughter of Tiznow is out of the Tapit mare War Echo, who won the Grade III Silverbulletday in 2009 over the local course. The first foal from that royal marriage raced gamely to hold off Spendthrift Farm’s debuting Dating Lady Luck in third by 1½ lengths.

Source: Fair Grounds Barn Notes