Title Ready Rolls in Louisiana Stakes
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Photo: Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges Jr.
Title Ready wins Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course
Charles Fipke's homebred Title Ready, trained by Louisiana native Dallas Stewart, was clearly ready for his 2021 debut, rolling down the lane to pass Blackberry Wine en route to a 1 1/4-length win in the Jan. 16 Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
The $125,000 Louisiana Stakes was the first of four stakes at the New Orleans track and is a prep for the Feb. 13 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at the same trip and the $400,000 New Orleans Classic (G2) at nine panels.
Title Ready came into the Louisiana Stakes to claim his first Fair Grounds win off efforts at the highest level. The 6-year-old son of More Than Ready was seventh in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland and finished a disappointing 10th in the Clark Stakes presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at Churchill Downs.
A field of nine went to post after the scratches of Indimaaj and My Boy Jack, the latter opting for the Col. E.R. Bradley Stakes, where he ran eighth.
Calumet Farm's Blackberry Wine, with Adam Beschizza up, took the early advantage and was allowed to set a slow pace of :25.28, :49.53, and 1:13.91 while Florent Geroux had a snug hold on Wells Bayou in second down the backstretch. Title Ready, with Brian Hernandez Jr. in the irons, was mid-pack in fourth in the early running.
"Coming out of two grade 1s, he's not chasing Authentic and those horses around there today, so we thought that if he broke good and got himself in the race, it would benefit him," Hernandez said. "With them going :25, :49 today, that just put us into the race and it make his running kick a whole lot stronger. …It was just a different class level today. He's run against the best in the country his last two starts, so to kind of take a step back today, he showed he was the best horse."
Wells Bayou made his move at the leader, but flattened out in early stretch while Title Ready continued to make steady progress. Blackberry Wine remained stubborn late, and it wasn't until the final strides when Title Ready got to the lead. Favored Wells Bayou was another two lengths back in third in the 1 1/16-mile race on the main track.
The win marked the fifth victory for Title Ready and the $77,500 first-prize money boosts his career mark to $656,680.
Despite seven black-type placings, the Louisiana was the first stakes score for Title Ready.
"He's a beautiful More Than Ready colt that Mr. Fipke bred, and he shows up and runs hard all the time," Stewart said. "I know he's been running against the best. These are some very nice horses that he ran with today, but he showed that he loves the Fair Grounds."
Title Ready is out of Title Seeker, whom Fipke paid $1.7 million for at the 2006 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale. Unraced Title Seeker, a daughter of Monarchos--Personal Ensign, is also the dam of grade 3 winner Seeking the Title (by Seeking the Gold) and grade 3-placed Perfect Title (by Perfect Soul). Seeking the Title is the dam of grade 1 winner Seeking the Soul , another Fipke homebred trained by Stewart. Title Seeker does not have a registered foal for 2020, but was bred to Blame for 2021.