J'ray, second in her past three races, earned a win in the Bayou on Saturday (Lou Hodges Jr.)

Lawrence Goichman's homebred J'RAY (Distant View) easily overtook pacesetter Candy Ball (Lemon Drop Kid) in the stretch and powered home a convincing 4 3/4-length winner of the $118,000 Bayou Breeders' Cup H. (G3) over the Fair Grounds turf on Saturday. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the classy four-year-old completed the about 1 1/8 miles in 1:52 2/5 over the firm turf and paid $3.40, $2.40 and $2.10 as the 3-5 favorite.

Candy Ball went to the lead soon after the start and set soft splits of :24 3/5, :50 1/5 and 1:14 3/5 for the opening six furlongs, with J'ray approximately three lengths back under Robby Albarado. Turning for home, J'ray commenced her run and soon found the front, reaching one mile in 1:40 before putting her rivals away in a few jumps.

Scarlet Butterfly (Theatrical [Ire]) won the battle for second by a nose, paying $12.80 and $6.40 at 26-1. Candy Ball was three lengths clear in third and gave back $3.60 for the show as the 6-1 third choice. The exacta returned $40, the trifecta paid $220.80, and the 9-8-3-2 superfecta gave back $1,992 with My Three Sisters (Defere) in fourth. Elle Runaway (El Prado [Ire]) and Fiery Dancer (Atticus) finished in a dead-heat for fifth and were trailed by Cat Alert (Tabasco Cat), Elsie Lucille (Lord Avie) and Aly's Vow (Broken Vow). Christmas Lily (Marquetry), Baghdaria (Royal Academy) and Royal Copenhagen (Fr) (Inchinor [GB]) were withdrawn.