Undefeated colt Louisiana Jess becomes first SW for Vekoma

Promising juvenile Louisiana Jess remained undefeated and scored his first stakes victory after dominating a field in the D. S. Shine Young Futurity late Saturday, Aug. 3rd at Evangeline Downs. The win also marked the first black type winner from the debut crop of 2-year-olds by leading First-Crop Sire Vekoma.

Trained by Bret Calhoun, Louisiana Jess blew the race wide open in the stretch, crossing the wire a comfortable 5 lengths ahead of the runner-up in a time of 1:05.67 for 5 1/2 furlongs. Now a stakes winner with a bright future ahead, the colt moved his record to a perfect 2-for-2 with earnings of $82,320 for owner Mansfield Racing.

In June, Louisiana Jess debuted a winner in a Maiden Special Weight race at Churchill Downs, which made him the heavy 1-5 favorite in Saturday’s stakes debut. For Vekoma, the win highlighted another strong day for the young sire who also saw his 13th winner and 11th debut Maiden Special Weight winner earlier in the day when 2-year-old colt Ellinger won gate-to-wire at Monmouth Park.

The red-hot Vekoma currently sits No. 2 on the First-Crop Sires List in North America with earnings approaching $700,000 to date, only below Complexity.