Exfactor enters Louisiana Derby picture with Sugar Bowl win

Fair Grounds' Santa Super Saturday program originally featured three

stakes for older runners, but the

Sugar Bowl overnight stakes was added

to allow a little juvenile representation. Stoneway Farm's Exfactor

ended up stealing the limelight from his elders when gutting out a nose

decision over Laurie's Rocket in that $58,800 contest on the fast main

track at the New Orleans venue.

Making his first start since a 2 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 3 Bashford

Manor Stakes on July 2, Exfactor hooked up with Laurie's Rocket in the final

furlong but showed no signs of rustiness when just getting the best of

the Bluegrass Cat colt.

Exfactor gave Shaun Bridgmohan his

second stakes win on the card while covering six furlongs on the fast main track

in 1:11 3/5. Trained by Bernie Flint, the gray juvenile is now three-for-four lifetime

with earnings of $145,348.

"The horse did it all. Bernie had him good and he did

it all. He fought and he got passed, and he fought his way back. He's a

gutsy little horse," Bridgmohan praised his mount.

Chamberlain Bridge, the 2010 Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Turf

Sprint winner, snapped a six-race losing skid when taking the $73,500

Bonapaw

Stakes earlier on the card.

Departing from his

normal deep-closing tactics, the War Chant gelding was sent to the lead by Jamie Theriot and held off 4-5 favorite Country Day, who ran second in the

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint this year, by a length. The final time for about 5 1/2

furlongs on the yielding turf was 1:03 2/5.

"Well he broke very sharp for us

today and the old Chamberlin showed up today," Therio said. "We changed

tactics with him and he went back to his old style of running."

The Bonapaw

was the 12th career stakes win for the seven-year-old Chamberlain

Bridge, who had last visited the winner's circle following the Rail

Splitter Stakes at Sam Houston on February 12. His record now stands at

39-18-4-8, $1,732,231.

Cherokee Queen, who landed the Grade 3 Suwannee River

Stakes earlier this year, ended her six-year-old campaign on a high note with a

victory in the $75,000

Blushing K. D. Handicap.

Debuting

for trainer Steve Margolis after previously residing in the south Florida barn

of Marty Wolfson, the daughter of Cherokee Run rallied from near the back of

the 10-horse field to win by a neck in a three-way photo.

Under Shaun Bridgmohan,

Cherokee Queen. covered about 1 1/16 miles on the turf in 1:45 1/5 as the 7-2

second choice. Odds-on favorite Ravi's Song (Unbridled's Song) finished ninth.

A five-time stakes winner prior to the Blushing K. D., Cherokee Queen

had been unplaced in her last three outings before transferring barns.

She was purchased by Clark Brewster for $240,000 at last month's

Keeneland November sale and sent to Margolis.

The stakes action at Fair Grounds on Saturday kicked off with the $72,000

Tenacious Handicap for older horses, an early step toward the Grade 2

New Orleans Handicap on April 1. Victorious after a stretch-long duel was Jim Tafel's

Fast Alex, who edged Gleam of Hope by a nose as the 8-5 choice

in a field of five.

Separating themselves from the rest of the field by more

than 15 lengths, the pair exchanged bumps around the sixteenth pole but neither

wavered in a tight finish. Under Robby Albarado, Fast Alex completed 1 1/16

miles in 1:45 1/5.

"That other horse slipped through

there (on the rail) and had a better trip than I did, but this horse fights on

to the wire," Albarado said. "He's a fighter. He never wins by far but he knows where the wire is

and he knows to stay in front."

The bay colt, trained by Greg Geier, had been unplaced in

three prior stakes attempts, including a decent fourth in the New

Orleans back in March. Fast Alex's record now stands at 13-4-0-2,

$150,605.