Photography: EL DINERO POSTS MAJOR UPSET IN THE $70,000 D.S. ‘SHINE’ YOUNG FUTURITY (Submitted Photograph by Evangeline Downs.)
OPELOUSAS, LA –El Dinero blew up the toteboard with a 39-1 shocker in the $70,000 D.S. ‘Shine’ Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs on Saturday night. Mangum outdueled Free Like a Girl to capture the $100,000 Louisiana Stallion Stakes presented by Coteau Grove Farms in the co-feature on the card. The races were contested over a track rated as fast for the evening.
Sonofaship and Cunimbus were among the first runners away from the gate in the futurity, with El Dinero away awkwardly near the back of the pack. As the field zipped through an opening quarter-mile in 22.17 seconds, Sonofaship had edged forward to gain control with Cunimbus, Deal With It Daddy and Sounds Like Power the closest pursuers. El Dinero and jockey Juan Vargas were in midpack and had moved to the middle of the track as they began to gain ground on the leaders.
As the field turned into the lane, El Dinero made a sweeping five-wide bid to challenge for the lead. Striking the front inside the final furlong, the Patrick Devereux, Jr. trainee began to clear off from his rivals and was 2-1/2 lengths in front at the wire. Deal With It Daddy held well to finish second, just a neck better than a late closing Good and Stout. Heavily favored Sonofaship, off at odds of 6/5, faded to fourth. The running time for the 5-1/2 furlongs was 1:06.54.
Owned by TAV Enterprises, LLC (John Tavormina and Leslie Rohre), El Dinero earned $42,000 in winning for the first time in his second career start. His bankroll jumps to $45,740 with the stake victory.
The 2-year-old was bred in Louisiana by the partnership of J. Adcock and Hume Wornall. The dark bay, or brown, gelding was sired by El Deal and is out of the Forestry mare Money for Makeup.
El Dinero paid a whopping $80.80 for the $2 win price, $27 to place and $14 to show. Deal With It Daddy returned $7.60 to place, $4.80 to show and Good and Stout paid $8 to show.
Jockey Vicente Del-Cid and Mangum set soft early fractions and held off Free Like a Girl in the inaugural running of the $100,000 Louisiana Stallion Stakes presented by Coteau Grove Farms. The new stake on the calendar for runners sired by a stallion domiciled in Louisiana was contested at the distance of one mile.
Breaking sharply from post three, Mangum went to the front with Free Like a Girl tracking his every move from her outside post. The early tempo was controlled with fractions of 25.42 seconds for the opening quarter mile and a tepid 49.77 seconds for the half-mile split. Double on the Red and Behemah Star were traveling just behind the leaders as the field made their way into the far turn.
Mangum was under pressure as Free Like a Girl moved to challenge as they traveled six furlongs in 1:14.50. In the sprint to the finish, Mangum would not let Free Like a Girl get by and held on for the victory by a head. It was a gap of eight lengths back to third place finisher Behemah Star. The winner stropped the timer in 1:39.44.
Trained by Jeff Delhomme, Mangum wins for the third time from eight career starts and earns $63,600 in the victory. His career bankroll now stands at $159,960.
Owned by Set-Hut LLC (Jake Delhomme), Mangum is a 3-year-old bay gelding sired by Mo Tom and out of the Graeme Hall mare Bovell Road. He was bred by Adcock’s Red River Farm, LLC & J. Adcock.
Mangum returned $10 to win, $3 to place and $2.10 to show. Favored Free Like a Girl paid $2.10 to place, $2.10 to show and Behemah Star paid $2.10 to show.
Live racing resumes Thursday with a 5:30pm first post. The Thoroughbred season continues through August 12.
Evangeline Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel, a property of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), features live horse racing, exciting casino action, the FanDuel Sportsbook and fun dining experiences. Evangeline Downs is located in Opelousas, Louisiana, off I-49 on Cresswell Lane at Exit 18.
