Louisiana Faster looked to be the least likely candidate between the three Tony Cunningham horses qualified for the 14th running of the $75,000 final of the Horseshoe Indianapolis QHRAI Derby to win.
However, he proved he was the quickest, scoring an upset victory with first-time jockey Jose Ruiz aboard.
A full field of 10 entered the gate for the final with Louisiana Faster and Ruiz beginning their race from post five. The inside horses, two of which were Cunningham horses, grabbed the early lead with Namgis Kodiak Kiss and Daniel Martinez getting the first call in the 400-yard dash with RK Lady Dana and Francisco Quintero tracking closely to their inside.
The race changed drastically midway in the stretch as Louisiana Faster gained momentum from the center of the track with Extermynator and Juan Marquez barreling down on the leaders from the far outside. At the finish, it was Louisiana Faster for the win by a neck over Extermynator. Namgis Kodiak Kiss finished third in the sprint timed in 19.925 seconds.
“I told Jose (Ruiz) that if he could get him out of the gate, he could run,” said Cunningham. “He did a great job with him. This horse likes the distance too. I really thought the other two were going to win but looked up and here came this horse running.”
Louisiana Faster, who was seventh on the list of qualifiers for the final, paid $53.20 to win as the longest shot in the race. The three-year-old son of The Louisiana Cartel, owned by Pamela Brickley Hann, was purchased out of the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association Yearling Sale for $20,000.
Louisiana Faster is now two for three this season and boosted his career earnings to more than $65,000 with the win. It was his first victory in Indiana from his 10th career start.
“Last year this was a terrible gate horse,” said Cunningham about Louisiana Faster. “We gelded him over the winter and took him to Kentucky and he won down there. He got away tardy in his trial, but I was glad he made it to the final. We have had high hopes for this horse all along.”
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