Tiztastic rallies to win Louisiana Derby, clinch Ky. Derby berth

Turf convert Tiztastic made the latest of runs in the deep stretch, moving from fourth to first in the final furlong Saturday to win by 2 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby, a win-and-you’re-in qualifier at Fair Grounds for Kentucky Derby 2025.

Post-time favorite John Hancock (9-5) led the field of 10 3-year-olds through early fractions of 22.99, 46.84 and 1:11.03. Turning into the stretch in the 1 3/16-mile race, Built (5-1) flashed to the front before being overtaken in mid-stretch through a mile in 1:36.47.

Click here for Fair Grounds entries and results.

Tiztastic (7-1) and Chunk of Gold (10-1) raced past tiring Built and finished one-two with a final time of 1:56.20. Combined with points from earlier preps, they assured themselves of berths in the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

Instant Replay (10-1) came in third, John Hancock (9-5) fourth and Built fifth. The top five finishers earned 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Tiztastic, who had gone 4: 0-1-2 in his previous dirt starts, paid $17.00, $7.20 and $4.40. Chunk of Gold returned $8.40 and $5.20. Instant Replay paid $5.20 to show.

A $335,000 Tiz the Law colt owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and the Coolmore trio Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, Tiztastic is trained by Steve Asmussen and was ridden for the first time Saturday by Joel Rosario. His only previous wins came last year on turf.

This story will be updated.