String King Stars Again on LA Legends Night

String King defended his victory in last year's $100,000 Louisiana Legends Turf with another Turf win July 2 at Evangeline Downs Racetrack, Casino & Hotel.

String King's rider, John Jacinto, was the riding star of the evening, with three wins in a row to conclude the program. Jacinto also won the featured $125,000 Louisiana Legends Classic aboard The Pickett Factor, and a Louisiana-bred maiden race with Street Honor.

 

String King sat off the pacesetting pair of Hail to the Nile and Hook during the early stages of the Turf, through a solid opening quarter-mile of :23.33 and the half-mile was covered in :48.40. As the field entered the stretch, String King powered to the front and withstood the closing charge of 28-1 longshot, Four Leaf Chief, to prevail by a length in a final time of 1:43.27 for the 1 1/16 miles over the firm turf course.

 

String King, who won in last year's race when it was taken off the turf,  was bred in Louisiana by his owner and trainer, Charles Smith. The 8-year-old gelding is by Crowned King and out of the Fly a Kite mare, String Dancer. The win is the 19th victory from 43 career races for String King and the $60,000 first-place purse pushes his career earnings to $1,071,052. String King returned $5.40 to win, $3.60 to place, and $3.00 to show.

 

In the Louisiana Legends Classic, The Pickett Factor and Mobile Bay dueled throughout the entirety of the 1 1/16 miles. The pair set fractions of :25.39 for the quarter-mile and :48.92 for the half-mile, and were not separated by more than a half-length at any point of the race. The Pickett Factor proved to be the stronger of the two in the stretch, however, and eventually won the Classic by a neck in a final time of 1:44.28 over the fast track.

 

The Pickett Factor is owned by Melissa Cantacuzene and trained by Ralph Irwin. The 4-year-old gelding is by Gold Tribute out of the Dynaformer mare Dynaspice. The victory was his seventh in 12 starts. The $75,000 first-place purse increases his lifetime earnings to $401,890. The Pickett Factor returned $6.40 to win, $3.00 to place, and $2.60 to show.

 

There were six other stakes races for Louisiana-breds on the Legends Night program. 

—One Survivor (Leestown) survived a speed duel with Red Production to win the $50,000 Starter. 

—Betting favorite Believe In Bertie (Langfuhr  ) went wire to wire to win the $100,000 Soiree on the turf. 

—Wheatfield (Lone Star Special) won the $100,000 Mademoiselle with a stirring finish to defeat the favorite, Smittys Cougar, by a nose. 

—Extra Credit (Proud Citizen  ) won by the largest margin of the night with a 2 3/4-length score in the $100,000 Cheval on the grass. 

--Believeinsomething (Etbauer) had to dig down deep to survive a stretch duel with Forest Lake to win the $100,000 Distaff by three-quarters of a length.

—Jockey Alex Cortez recorded his first stakes victory aboard C U Tiger (Indian Territory) in the $100,000 Sprint.