Louisiana Derby 2012: Hero of Order Holds off Mark Valeski in Shocking Upset

Hero of Order scored a monumental shocker as he relentlessly held off big favorite Mark Valeski to win the $1 million Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds.

The winner, who is owned by Raut LLC and trained by Russian-born former jockey Gennadi Dorochenko, closed at odds of 109.40-1. He was ridden for the first time by veteran jockey Eddie Martin, Jr., who in his career, had won every significant race at Fair Grounds except this one.

Hero of Order is a horse that likes to set the pace, but with five-furlong track-record holder Comisky's Humor in the race, it was wise to settle for second place early on.

That was the first smart move on the race by jockey Martin Jr., considering that Hero of Order had post position No. 12 and Comisky's Humor posted from No. 9.

Jockey Rosie Napravnik chose to settle favorite Mark Valeski (1.50-1) in fifth position on the clear outside, right behind second betting choice Cigar Street (3.60-1), who ran fourth.

The second smart move by Martin, Jr. was to allow Comisky's Humor to keep the lead and run a separate race as if he was leading while in second place. He ran considering the trailers and awaited the right time to then press for the lead and wait to battle the late chargers.

That moment was right as they were rounding the three-quarter-mile, as Hero of Order took the lead for the first time. Cigar Street and Mark Valeski were then third and fourth, but gradually tracking down the leaders.

As they started to enter the stretch, it looked like Cigar Street and Mark Valeski would run down Hero of Order and go down the stretch in a mano-a-mano, but the leader was holding on to the lead as if there was no tomorrow.

Mark Valeski left Cigar Street behind with two furlongs to go and went after the leader as Napravnik turned to the right-handed whip and a strong left-hand ride. But Hero of Order never let them get past the half-length lead.

Hero of Order, a son of Sharp Humor out of the mare Ocean Sprite by Ocean Crest, was making his 14th career start. He had never beaten at least six of the horses he beat today.

This gives place to the fact that his win today comes as a shocker, but he was underestimated big time on the parimutuels.

Comisky's Humor had established the five-furlong track-record, but never gone beyond six furlongs in three tries. Still, he was being considered at only 26.60-1.

The winning time for the one-and-one-eighth miles of 1:50.13 was a very slow time, essentially because of the pedestrian-like :25.51 seconds it took them to get from the three-quarter-mile to the mile pole. Unheard of for Derby contenders.

Take into consideration that it took Nates Mineshaft :24.08 to cover the same fractional as he established the new track record (1:47.64) for the distance a couple of races earlier.

But if you want to compare horse from the Derby trail, it took Take Charge Indy :23.87 seconds to cover the same fractional in the Florida Derby. The race was at Gulfstream Park, but at the same distance and gives you a guiding point for comparing the possible Derby horses.

Hero of Order won the $600,000 purse that goes to the winner, giving him more than enough graded earnings to make it to the starting gate of the Kentucky Derby.

Now, the fun part of this story is that Hero of Order was not originally nominated for the Triple Crown. This makes his participation on the Run for the Roses virtually impossible.

Mark Valeski was training really well for the race, and he was expected to take down the opposition here. It was disappointing that he was not able to show his best, but that could have been because he lost his left front shoe during the race.

He won the $200,000 that goes for the second place finisher, and at the moment, he would be inside the Top 20 in graded earnings. Trainer Larry Jones has his hands full now and will have to wait for the final graded earnings list to see if he stays in the Top 20.

Louisiana Derby | Grade 2 | Purse: $1,000,000 | Distance: One-and-one-eighth miles

No	Horse	Jockey	Win	Place	Show
12	Hero of Order	Eddie Martin, Jr.	220.80	79.20	25.40
1A	Mark Valeski	Rosie Napravnik		3.40	2.80
11	Rousing Sermon	Mike E. Smith			4.60
Also ran: 6 - Cigar Street , 7 - Shared Property , 3 - Windsurfer , 13 - Afford , 10 - Z Dager , 2 - Fire Alarm , 4 - Finnegans Wake , 5 - Flashy Sunrise , 1 - Mr. Bowling , 9 - Comisky's Humor
Scratched horses: Arm Force  (Trainer)

Conditions: Fast on Dirt
Fractional Times: :23.39, :47.27, 1:11.15, 1:36.66
Final Time: 1:50.13