Star Guitar makes history on Champions Day

One month after trainer Al Stall Jr. sent out Blame to an historic

victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs, the native

New Orleanian helped to make history on a smaller scale back home when

state-bred standout STAR GUITAR (Quiet American) dominated the $150,000

Louisiana Champions Day Classic S. at Fair Grounds.

By powering to a four-length triumph as the 1-5 favorite and

defending champion, Star Guitar entered the annals of Louisiana-bred

history twice over. The Brittlyn Stable homebred boasts the unique

distinction of being the only horse ever to win four times on Champions

Day. Star Guitar's unprecedented "grand slam" comprises the 2007

Juvenile, the 2008 Sprint, and the 2009-10 editions of the Classic.

At the same time, Star Guitar became the third millionaire bred in

the Pelican State. With his bankroll now boosted to $1,065,958, he has

joined the exclusive club of Happy Ticket, the state's all-time leading

earner with $1,688,838 to her credit, and Scott's Scoundrel, the

trailblazing millionaire with $1,270,052 in earnings.

Star Guitar's 10-race winning streak versus fellow Louisiana-breds

was snapped last time out in the November 5 Delta Gold Cup S. at Delta

Downs, but his fourth-place effort that day did not dissuade his legions

of fans. The five-year-old veteran was expected to bounce back with a

vengeance here, and as it turned out, he was one of four Champions Day

winners who were coming off losses at Delta.

Evelyn Brittlyn, Star Guitar's owner/breeder, paid tribute to her pride and

joy.

"He has the personality and intelligence of a human -- extremely sharp,"

Brittlyn said. "He has the heart of a beast and the good looks beyond belief."

Star Guitar's overall record reads 21-15-0-2, reflecting no fewer than 13

stakes victories. A two-time hero of the Louisiana Premier Night Championship S.

and Evangeline Mile H. (both 2009-2010), he has also captured the 2010 Louisiana

Showcase Classic S. and the 2009 Delta Gold Cup, Pola Benoit Memorial S.,

Louisiana Cup Turf Classic and Dixie Poker Ace S. (the latter two rained off the

turf). Star Guitar has not been as effective in four tries in graded company,

with his best result being a third in the 2009 Alysheba S. (G3).

"He's found his little niche," Stall said. "He's a very valuable horse. He's

sound. This is his time of year on this track. We kind of build our year around

this race, really, so we just do the same thing.

"I can tell you what next race is going to be, but after that, I don't know.

We'll go to the Premier over at Delta. He's just a great horse, been a sound

horse for us the whole time. He tried hard and he's just full of class. He has

this bunch over a barrel."

"I'm thinking no (more graded attempts) as he gets older. He'll be six this

year. I'm thinking we'll try the Premier Night at Delta and then give him a

breather. He hasn't been off the track in quite a while. I don't think we would

try the New Orleans H. (G2) or any of those again. We've tried that the last two

years (finishing seventh in 2009 and fourth in 2010), and we're not going to

make the same mistake three times."

Superior Storm's (Stormy Atlantic) quest to become the first four-time winner

on Champions Day was foiled by sophomore LADYZARBRIDGE (Zarbyev), who went wire

to wire under new rider Rosie Napravnik in the $100,000

Louisiana Champions Day Ladies S. Campaigned by Charles Zacney in

partnership with trainer Eddie Johnston, the 10-1 shot controlled the race

through splits of :24, :48 1/5 and 1:13 1/5. Superior Storm rallied into

contention in the stretch, but Ladyzarbridge stayed on relentlessly to prevail

by 2 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:45 4/5 for 1 1/16 miles.

"I told Rosie to do her magic," Johnston said. "I loved those fractions.

Rosie did it. When they went :48 and then (1:13) and change, I thought, 'I've

got a shot at this.' And she kept going. It was great."

"I claimed her as a two-year-old with expectations of what she would be as a

four- and five-year-old," Johnston added. "I've had Zarbyevs before and know

that they're slow-growing mentally. I was real surprised that she came along so

good as a three-year-old. But she's getting better and she's matured so much,

paced herself, settled down. I think she's going to be good. I expected her to

run good today, but I didn't know she'd run that good against a great filly

(Superior Storm)."

Ladyzarbridge rewarded her backers with $23, $8.40 and $4.80. Two-time

defending Ladies champ Superior Storm, whose first Champions Day score came in

the 2007 Lassie, finished a clear second by 2 1/2 lengths. Despite her

accomplishments, she was sent off as the 8-5 second choice, but easily defeated

8-5 favorite and third-place finisher Little Polka Dot (Orientate).

Two races later, Johnston and Napravnik combined again to land the $100,000

Louisiana

Champions Day Turf S. with 9-5 favorite SNAKEBITE KIT (Sky Classic).

Apparently unfazed by hitting the gate at the break, the Steve Hartman homebred

sailed to the lead, rattled off fractions of :23 3/5, :48 2/5 and 1:13 2/5, and

skipped away by 1 3/4 lengths to complete about 1 1/16 miles in 1:44 on the firm

course. Snakebite Kit, now a perfect four-for-four on the Fair Grounds sod,

returned $5.60, $3.60 and $2.40.

"I know that it's harder to hold the speed on the turf," Napravnik noted,

"but the rail (which was set at 20 feet Saturday) helped that. This was the

first time I sat on him, but he was nice to ride. This horse just likes to run.

You don't see many horses go wire-to-wire on this turf course.

"You try to sit there as quiet as possible and hopefully you don't have

anyone pushing you, which we didn't until maybe the second half. He relaxed

really nicely and he finished well."

"I feel good -- good day," Johnston said of his Champions Day double. "He

(Snakebite Kit) is what he is and he likes running and he relaxes and he does it

easy. He gets in the front and he continues going. He just loves this turf

course."

Kissimmee Kyle (Gold Tribute), who emerged as the only potential threat from

off the pace, gave game chase in vain down the stretch. The runner-up was all by

himself, 4 1/2 lengths ahead of Hallway (Graeme Hall). Defending champion Desert

Wheat (Wheaton), in search of his third Turf trophy, wound up an

uncharacteristically dull fifth.

Thomas Galvin's SU CASA G CASA (During) was another to overturn Delta form

when driving to a 2 3/4-length success in the $100,000

Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile S. Just nailed in the dying strides in the

one-mile Louisiana Legacy S. by Fort Hood (Lone Star Sky) last out, Su Casa G

Casa still retained the public's trust when cutting back to one turn here, and

proved worthy of his 8-5 favoritism. The Bret Calhoun trainee chased in fourth

for the first quarter in :21 3/5, commenced his move to put his head in front at

the half in :45 1/5, and pulled away to a convincing win. With regular rider

Carlos Gonzalez in the saddle, Su Casa G Casa covered six furlongs in 1:11 4/5

and paid $5.20, $3.20 and $2.20.

"I felt pretty confident," Calhoun said. "The race at Delta was pretty

disappointing. He ran a great race just to get beat. He was roped by a horse the

whole way that day. Going back to one turn I was pretty confident. There was a

lot of speed in here, and in the back of my mind, I was hoping there'd be a

speed duel and everyone would get burned up. I thought he was the fastest horse,

but I didn't want him to go too fast and take a chance that he'd get burned out.

Carlos did a good job the first three-eighths of a mile settling him in and the

race went like we had hoped."

In the $100,000

Louisiana Champions Day Lassie S., Danny Ray Butler's REYINA (Mr. John) was

all heart and tenacity on the front end for Jamie Theriot, fighting tooth and

nail to stave off 78-1 longshot Sweet Ruston (Lydgate) by a desperate nose. The

Tony Richey pupil first had to outduel 6-5 favorite Take Me Home Too (Came Home)

through an opening quarter in :21 4/5, then shrugged her off for good after a

half in :46 2/5. Just when Reyina survived the pace battle, she was confronted

by a surging Sweet Ruston, who appeared poised to spring a Champions Day shock.

Reyina, an 18-1 outsider herself, knuckled down along the inside, and her steely

determination was rewarded on the head-bob.

"She was very game," Theriot said. "I was whipping her and she wasn't taking

it; she was starting to rebel on me. So I quit whipping her and threw a cross

and she dug in. I threw another cross and she dug in again. It came down to a

head bob, but it looked like I was beat at the sixteenth-pole."

"She ran super," Richey said. "She ran great, when they dig in like that, run

to the end, you know. But you can look at her form -- she dances every dance,

you know. And she's just tough, she's a little tough filly."

Older sprinters took the stage for the final two stakes events on the

program. Lee Young Farm's FLASHY WISE CAT (Catastrophe) annexed the $100,000

Louisiana Champions Day Sprint S. for the second consecutive year, ending a

five-race losing skid dating back to Champions Day 2009. Unraced since his fifth

in the Oak Hall S. at Evangeline in July, the Troy Young charge lagged at or

near the tail of the field for the first half-mile, far off the :22 and :45 3/5

pace set by 8-5 favorite My Star Runner (Run Production). Flashy Wise Cat caught

fire in the stretch, catapulted himself into fourth at the eighth-pole, and

rocketed past My Star Runner inside the final furlong to win going away by 3 1/4

lengths.

"I never rode the horse before," winning rider Kerwin Clark said. "I've been

working him out, and that's exactly how he works, you know, we just let him

settle the first part and make that big ol' run. You know, like I said, I never

rode him and I didn't know what kind of kick to expect. So when we turned for

home, there was kind of a little alleyway there down the middle and boy, when I

reached back and hit him he just…holy crap…I was like, 'Oh crap, I've got to

find some place to go now.' Troy just said, 'Be patient, he runs good fresh,'

You know, he was right. What a performance."

Southern Equine Stable's homebred CAJUN CONFERENCE (Gold Tribute) defied an

11-month layoff to take the $100,000

Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint S. in her debut for trainer Eric

Heitzman, going one better than her runner-up effort in this race last year. The

9-1 chance has historically flashed speed, but she wound up racing in midpack

early after an awkward beginning. Seven lengths back through an opening quarter

in :21 3/5, Miguel Mena got Cajun Conference to advance into a tracking third

through a half in :46 3/5, and took dead aim on 3-2 favorite Good Human Bean (Langfuhr)

in midstretch. Good Human Bean tried hard in her stakes bow, but could not

contain the winner's strong late kick.

"Well, Picasso never painted a masterpiece with crayons," Heitzman said of

getting her ready off the shelf. "Southern Equine Stable, Mike Moreno, (former

trainer) Eric Guillot, they gave me something to work with. They gave me

something to work with and she got the job done.

"She lunged a little bit at the break. The horse was coming off a long layoff

and we schooled her in the gate, but there's only so much you can do in the

mornings. And it worked out in our favor. There was a lot of speed in here and

we had a bad post. I was hoping for an outside post because of her speed,

thinking Miguel could get her clear and pick his spot and just pick them off as

they came along. But in the long run it helped us out."