This was a fantastic race at Fair Grounds race track! MISSION IMPAZIBLE used stamina to wear down the stubborn horse A Little Warm, to win the Louisiana Derby Grade 2 $750,000 prize. This gave trainer Todd Pletcher another prize horse to use in his Kentucky Derby G1 lineup.
MISSION IMPAZIBLE was ridden for the first time by jockey Rajiv Maragh on Saturday, and closed steadily on the deep stretch to complete the 1 1/8 miles in only 1:30 1/5. A Little Warm dictated splits of: 23 2/5, :47 4/5, and 1:12.
Backtrack advanced briefly on the outside during the race, while The Program, Wow Wow Wow, and MISSION IMPAZIBLE formed the main chasing group during the race. At the beginning of the race Discreetly Mine gave A Little Warm a run for its money, but A Little Warm finally got past the persistent Discreetly Mine only to find that two other horses were bearing down on him from both sides.
MISSION IMPAZIBLE angled out for clear sailing and was hitting his best stride on the outside, while Drosselmeyer was gaining speed to his inside. MISSION IMPAZIBLE finished the best out of the three and overhauled A Little Warm by three-quarters of a length!
Maragh spoke of MISSION IMPAZIBLE by saying, “He’s a talented horse and he had some fire down the lane. He just exploded!” MISSION IMPAZIBLE completed a sweep of Saturday’s stakes at Fair Grounds.
MISSION IMPAZIBLE was bred by Summer Wind Farm in Kentucky and is the half-brother to Forest Camp and Spanish Empire. MISSION IMPAZIBLE is the second member of the bred family to enjoy winning success at Fair Grounds.