Touchuponastar upsets Sierra Leone in New Orleans Classic

Tackling open-company rivals for just the sixth time in his 21-race career in front of a roaring hometown crowd at Fair Grounds, Louisiana-bred 6-year-old gelding Touchuponastar left the gate running and he never stopped. Upsetting Eclipse Award winner Sierra Leone, he completed a memorable, front-running voyage in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 New Orleans Classic.

Sent off as the 6-1 third choice in a field that was scratched down to just five runners, the son of Star Guitar carved out moderate early fractions of 24.00 and 47.40 seconds from the 1 1/8-mile distance. Hall of Fame was in chase mode in second. Sierra Leone, making his 4-year-old debut at the scene of last year’s Risen Star (G2) victory, trailed up the backstretch.

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Off the second turn, Touchuponastar began to inch away from the pack, and he maintained a safe margin to the wire, winning by 2 1/2 lengths with a final time of 1:48.10.

Hall of Fame finished second and the 1-5 favorite Sierra Leone, making his first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, was two lengths farther back in third. San Siro and Komorebino Omoide completed the finish in that order.

“He always does his job,” said winning rider Tim Thornton, who has ridden Touchuponastar in all but one of his 21 of his lifetime starts. “Making the lead alone, having him prick his ears, I knew we were ready to win this. At the three-eighths pole I took a little pressure, but he was there for me. The Delhommes do such a great job with their horses.”

A $15,000 yearling purchase, 6-year-old Touchuponastar boasts a record of 21: 15-4-2 with a bankroll of $1,412,900 for Set-Hut, owned by former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme. The gelding is trained by Jeff Delhomme, the brother of the owner.

Touchuponastar was cross entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Star Guitar Stakes restricted to Louisiana-breds, but after finishing second to Red Route One in last year’s New Orleans Classic, the connections decided at the last minute to test the deeper, open company waters once again.

“He has been doing so well,” Jake Delhomme said. “Tim said to us after working him a few weeks back, ‘I don’t think he’s ever been doing this good.’ Yesterday morning when he galloped, when he came by, I swear to you he was floating on air. We’re from Louisiana, and this is a homegrown horse. He is a fan favorite. We’re just blessed to have this big guy in our barn.”

Touchuponastar returned $15.00, $5.60, and $2.60. Hall of Fame paid $4.00, and $2.20. Sierra Leone paid $2.10 to show.