Philly horse wins in New Orleans

By: SPORTS NETWORK

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - On the same day that the Philadelphia Eagles were scheduled to take on the New Orleans Saints, a horse from the Philadelphia area came to town and won a stakes race at the Fair Grounds.

Hard Spun, ridden by Mario Pino, easily defeated six rivals on Saturday in the $100,000 Lecomte Stakes. The three-year-old is being counted upon to continue the recent string of Kentucky Derby contenders with connections from the Philadelphia region.

Owned by Fox Hill Farms, Hard Spun set the pace in the one mile event and, when asked, repelled his main rival Teuflesberg. The two colts were first and second up the backstretch, and separated themselves from the field entering the final turn.

Hard Spun responded on the turn to the challenge and ran away from the competition. He finished first by five lengths over Izzie's Halo. Teuflesberg faded to third with Makeithapencaptain fourth. Rounding out the finish was Beta Capo, Tony Terrific and Citi Smoke.

The time for the Lecomte Stakes was 1:37.87 on a fast track.

Hard Spun earned $60,000 with the victory and remained undefeated in four starts. Trained by Larry Jones, the three-year-old has earned $160,970.

The Pennsylvania-bred, like Smarty Jones, broke his maiden in his first start at Delaware Park and followed that with a victory at Delaware in the Port Penn Stakes.

Hard Spun closed 2006 with a convincing win at Philadelphia Park in the Pennsylvania Nursery, a stakes that Smarty Jones won in 2003.

Hard Spun returned $4.00, $3.00 and $2.10. Izzie's Halo paid $4.60 and $3.20, and Teuflesberg paid $2.80 for show.