2ND DERBY WINNER IN LESS THAN A YEAR

5th Group/Graded Graduate from Denali Sales in 2012

The 99th running of the GII Louisiana Derby would be won by Raut LLC’s Hero of Order (Sharp Humor), was let go at 109-1, but he defied those odds to hold off favored Mark Valeski (Proud Citizen) by a halflength to secure a career best for owner/trainer Gennadi Dorochenko. California invader Rousing Sermon (Lucky Pulpit) ran on late from the back of the pack to be third. A Russian immigrant, Dorochenko purchased Hero of Order from Denali at the 2010 Keeneland September sale.

Singing high praises of rider Eddie Martin, Jr., who was winning his home track’s centerpiece for the first time, Dorochenko lauded, “Eddie is the best jockey. We are around horses together, I give him chance. A lot of jockeys have ridden [Hero of Order] and everything but he does exactly what I tell him, he wins.”

LOUISIANA DERBY-GII, $1,000,000, FGX, 4-1, 3yo,
1 1/8m, 1:50, ft.
1–#@HERO OF ORDER, 122, c, 3, by Sharp Humor
1st Dam: Ocean Sprite, by Ocean Crest
2nd Dam: Romanticat, by Gato Del Sol
3rd Dam: Country Romance, by Halo
($3,000 yrl ’10 KEESEP). O-Raut LLC; B-Wind Hill
Farm (KY); T-Gennadi Dorochenko; J-Eddie Martin Jr;
$600,000. Lifetime Record: 14-2-1-2, $657,277.
2–Mark Valeski, 122, c, 3, Proud Citizen–Pocho’s
Dream Girl, by Fortunate Prospect. ($22,000 RNA yrl
’10 KEESEP). O/B-Brereton C Jones (KY); T-J Larry
Jones; $200,000.
3–Rousing Sermon, 122, c, 3, Lucky Pulpit–Rousing
Again, by Awesome Again. O/B-Mr & Mrs Larry D
Williams (CA); T-Jerry Hollendorfer; $100,000.
Margins: HF, 1HF, NO. Odds: 109.40, 1.50, 6.70.
Also Ran: Cigar Street, Shared Property, Windsurfer, Afford, Z Dager, Fire
Alarm, Finnegans Wake, Flashy Sunrise, Mr. Bowling, Comisky’s Humor.
Scratched: Arm Force.