Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

This weekend’s Triple Crown preps had it all: a dominating victory, a shocking upset, a triumph by a local hero and a heavy favorite forced to work hard for his money.

The headline of the four prep races run on Saturday was definitely the 1 1/16-mile $600,000 Louisiana Derby (Gr. 2),  which saw Friesan Fire roll to an impressive 7 ¼-length victory over a sloppy Fair Grounds track.

You’ve got to love this overachieving son of A.P. Indy, who has even been viewed as a second stringer by his trainer, Larry Jones. Jones has been talking up stablemate Old Fashioned as his best hope for the Triple Crown races all winter.

But that may be changing, now that Friesan Fire has completed the sweep of the Fair Grounds’ major stakes races for 3-year-olds – the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 10, the Risen Star on Feb. 7 and now the Louisiana Derby.  He’s the first colt to accomplish that feat since Dixieland Heat did it in 1993.

One sign of Friesan Fire’s improving reputation is the fact that stable jockey Gabriel Saez elected to head to New Orleans to ride Friesan Fire on Saturday over Old Fashioned, who competed a short time later in the Rebel Stakes (Gr. 2) at Oaklawn Park (more on that shortly).

While no one was close to Friesan Fire at the finish, runner-up Papa Clem ran a pretty good race in his first start on dirt and continued to flatter the form of the California preps. The colt was a good second to Pioneerof the Nile in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7.

Before we depart the Fair Grounds, it’s worth mentioning the Fair Ground Oaks (Gr. 2), which was run a few hours before the Louisiana Derby. What’s notable is that the winner, Rachel Alexandra, ran faster than Friesan Fire in wiring five overmatched rivals. She went 1:12.39 for the 6 furlongs and crossed the wire in 1:43.35, geared down but nonetheless running the last half furlong in 0:06.84.

By contrast, Friesan Fire crossed the wire in the Louisiana Derby in 1:43.46 after running about half a length behind a 1:13.34 pace for the 6 furlongs. That means he finished ever so slightly faster than Rachel Alexandra after racing more than a second slower than she did in the early stages of the race.

Trainer Hal Wiggins didn’t sound like he was eager to take on the boys after the race, but if she runs another strong race in her next start the pressure will be on. She’s expected to run next in the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, the race that the ill-fated Eight Belles used as a springboard to the Kentucky Derby last year.

Jockey Calvin Borel certainly has no doubts where the filly belongs: “To tell you the truth, I think she’s the best thing in the country right now,” he said after Saturday’s race.

Now let’s venture to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, where the aforementioned Old Fashioned was sent off as the second-lowest-priced favorite of the weekend action at 2-5. He looked like he was home free in the Rebel after disposing of Silver City at the top of the stretch, but the torrid early pace -- which began with a sprint-like opening  quarter of :22.54 — caught up with him in the final yards.

Out of the clouds came Win Willy, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, who was running long for the first time. The Mac Robertson trainee, a whopping 56-1 on the Tote board, caught Old Fashioned in the last 1/16th of a mile and pulled away to a 2¼ length victory.

Even though Old Fashioned suffered his first defeat in five starts, he showed me a lot by persevering after chasing such an enervating early pace. The colt needs to learn to relax a bit more if he’s going to chase horses running way too fast, too early, but with Jones calling the shots I think he stands a good chance of doing that.

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