2012 Louisiana Derby Result: Hero of Order. Who? 109/1 Winner

Hero of Order, a winner of a single maiden race back on January 7th, held off Mark Valeski at the wire to win the $1 million Grade 1 Louisiana Derby at astronomical odds of 99/1. [Technically, he was 109/1. But who's counting?] Rousing Sermon closed to finish 3rd. Race favorite Cigar Street was one paced in the stretch and could only muster a 4th place finish.The $600,000 prize for winning the Louisiana Derby ensures a spot in the 2012 Kentucky Derby for Hero of Oder. Just think about that. [Well, kind of. He has enough graded earnings to make the Derby but he is not Triple Crown nominated and would need to be supplemented for $200k, and even that doesn't guarantee him entry into the field. So, it's not certain that Hero of Order will actually run in the Kentucky Derby.]

In the preview for the Louisiana Derby I discussed the weakness of the two previous prep races at the Fair Grounds, the Lecomte and the Risen Star. Without waiting for the resulting speed figure (which I doubt is going to be very high), I think the Louisiana Derby is going to get thrown to the bottom of the list in terms of improtant Kentucky Derby prep races for 2012. And that's not to take anything away from Hero of Order; he won the race fair and square. But he is not a high-class horse, or at least he's never shown any glimpses of being a high-class horse in his career to date.

Hero of Order is a three-year-old son of Sharp Humor out of an Ocean Crest mare (Ocean Sprite), trained by Gennadi Dorochenko and ridden by Eddie Martin.

Below are the payouts, fractions and internal splits from the Louisiana Derby.

Fractions:

1/4: 23.29
1/2: 47.27
3/4: 1:11.55
Mile: 1:36.66
Finish: 1:50.13

Internal Fractions:

1/4: 23.29
1/2: 23.98
3/4: 24.28
Mile: 25.11
Finish: 13.47