From the Box Seat, Black Hornet Strikes in $100,000 Black Gold Stakes

Recaps of Saturday's Quartet of Louisiana-bred Stakes 

NEW ORLEANS (Feb. 28, 2026) – After securing a box seat, Black Hornet tipped out in the stretch and ran down odds-on favorite Touch of Fire to win the $100,000 Black Gold Stakes over six 3-year-old open company rivals. The Black Gold was one of five stakes on Saturday’s card, along with a quartet restricted to Louisianan-breds.

Trained by Brendan Walsh and owned by Calumet Farm, the Essential Quality colt covered 1 1/16 miles over a firm turf course in 1:44.03 under Declan Cannon.

“I got a nice position in behind the favorite, and I thought if I had aim at him at the top of the stretch, I could run him down, or at least be close,” Cannon said. “I like the way he quickened and went by him pretty easily.”

Breaking sharply and allowing the pocket to form around him, Black Hornet saved ground along the rail while tracking Touch of Fire, who set fractions of :24.06 and :49.74. At the top of the stretch, Black Hornet tipped out, split foes and ran down the leader to win by 1 1/4 lengths. McCready finished third.

Sent off at 7-1, Black Hornet returned $16.80, $4.00 and $2.80.

Exiting a maiden victory in his turf debut, Black Hornet improved his record to 6-2-2-0 with earnings of $101,200.

“There is never a rush to get on the grass,” assistant trainer Paul Madden said. “He'd run some good races on dirt. But he’s grown confident since winning his last race. He was 7-1, but it was not a surprise to us. There could be more to come from this horse.”

Saturday’s stakes action began with Highly Wicked’s return to the winner’s circle as the Earl Hernandez, Keith Hernandez and John Duvieilh homebred, trained by Sam David Jr., ran down loose leader Kalil to win the $100,000 Red Camelia Stakes.

After finishing behind Rising Inflation in two stakes attempts at the meet, the 6-year-old earned her 10th career turf victory, turning the tables on that rival. Marcelino Pedroza Jr. was aboard as Highly Wicked covered one mile on the turf in 1:37.48.

Boss of All Bosses dueled with Fran’s Star in a 1 1/16-mile turf test for eight older males before asserting command in the final furlong and drawing clear to win the $100,000 Edward J. Johnston Memorial Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths. Fran’s Star held second and Laser Clad finished third.

Sent off as the 8-5 favorite, Boss of All Bosses completed the distance in 1:44.06 under Ben Curtis. The win was his fourth of the 2025-26 meet and the third straight for trainer Mike Maker.

Sibling dirt stakes for Louisiana-bred 3-year-olds were also contested Saturday, beginning with the 1 mile 70 yards $100,000 Louisiana Stallion of the Year Star Guitar Stakes. Piloted by Axel Concepcion, Creole Chrome proved much the best in his first stakes attempt, setting the tempo and drawing off from seven male rivals to win by 6 3/4 lengths for trainer Joe Sharp. Bubby finished second and Thebabeslayer was third.

The $100,000 Louisiana Broodmare of the Year Charged Cotton Stakes saw Braken Poppa romp by 9 1/2 lengths under Brian Hernandez Jr. The Steve Asmussen trainee secured her third consecutive victory. Thrill Seeker held second after pressing the pace, and Fade to Gold finished third.

Live racing continues Sunday at Fair Grounds. First post for the eight-race card is 12:45 p.m. CT.