Chance Yelverton’s Lil Allie Dancer thundered through the stretch to get past the pacesetters and win the $75,000 Equine Sales Oaks at Evangeline Downs on Friday night. Lil Allie Dancer came through for her first career stakes win, which was a significant improvement over a sixth-place finish in her other stakes try earlier this season in the $50,000 Cajun Miss.
Lil Allie Dancer was sixth early on in the Equine Sales Oaks, sitting comfortably behind a three-horse scrum for the lead involving Gussie’s Girl, Rush To Judgement, and Flashy Appeal. That trio set a decent enough pace, going 24.28 for the quarter-mile and 49.45 for the half-mile. Doin A Happy Dance, the co-second choice with Flashy Appeal, made a strong move on the far turn to loom outside the leaders, but would flatten out in the stretch. Lil Allie Dancer started to roll as the field entered the stretch and closed strongly to notch a 1-3/4 length victory in a final time of 1:41.57 for the 1 1/16 miles over the fast track.
Lil Allie Dancer paid $5.00 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.40 to show. Flashy Appeal finished second, returning $3.40 to place and $2.60 to show. Gussie’s Girl was third and paid $6.00 to show.
The win for Lil Allie Dancer was her fourth in five lifetime starts and the $45,000 first-place purse increases her lifetime earnings to $121,400. Diego Saenz was aboard for the victory and the filly is trained by Sam Breaux. She is a 3-year-old bred in Louisiana by Tom Curtis and Wayne Simpson. Lil Allie Dancer is by Good And Tough and is out of the Gate Dancer mare Native Gate Dancer.
The Equine Sales Oaks and companion Equine Sales Derby are both being held for the first time this year for sale graduates of the Equine Sales Company in Opelousas, Louisiana. The sale company will be holding its 2-year-olds in training sale on Tuesday with the breeze show on Sunday. Lil Allie Dancer sold for $6,000 as the 2014 Equine Sales Company yearling sale from Picket Thoroughbreds to Ross Yelverton, and then did not meet her reserve in the 2015 Stars of Tomorrow 2-year-olds in training sale at Evangeline.
Evangeline Downs will resume live racing on Saturday night with a 9-race program. The featured event on the Saturday card will be the $75,000 Equine Sales Derby. The 8-5 morning line favorite is Couche Couche, who won the $50,000 Ragin’ Cajun Stakes at Evangeline Downs last time out. Post time on Saturday night will be 6:05 pm Central time due to a close proximity of the normal post time of 5:50 pm to the Kentucky Derby simulcast from Churchill Downs.