Birdstone’s 5-year-old Louisiana-bred son Underpressure recorded his second stakes triumph of the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots meet on March 2.
Winner of the Louisiana Champions Day Classic in December, Underpressure returned to New Orleans from Delta Downs to score another stakes win against Louisiana-breds in the $60,000 Dixie Poker Ace Stakes, which was scheduled for the turf but was moved to the main track.
Trained by Chris Richard and guided by jockey Corey Lanerie, Underpressure closed ground and got up in the final sixteenth of a mile to win by 1¼ lengths. He covered the one-mile race in a final time of 1:38.92.
“It probably benefitted us when it came off the grass,” Lanerie said. “I thought I was on the best horse. Chris did a good job of getting the horse ready to run. When I rode him on Champions Day, he ran one of his better races. I thought the way that it was playing today, I saw some speed in the race. I thought I would hustle him away because it was a flat mile and then kind of bide my time and get my way through. Thank God we found the right trip and got him to the wire first.”
Underpressure earned $36,000 from Saturday’s win and pushed his career earnings up to $505,632. He has won nine of his 27 career starts.
Owned by Mallory Greiner and bred in Louisiana by James McIngvale, Underpressure is out of the G1-placed Charismatic mare Charming Colleen who also produced Goodprofit – a two-time stakes winner against Louisiana-breds.
Birdstone is the sire of two champions, two classic winners, and a pair of $2 million earners in his first crop, including champion and G1 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. He stands for $5,000 at Gainesway.