With stable star Ova Charged showing the way and Spirited Beauty chasing her home in second, the Brittlyn Stable Star Guitar fillies filled out the exacta in the 1st running of the 6-furlong $75,000 Happy Ticket Stakes for older Louisiana-bred females, one of three restricted stakes run on the opening day Friday program at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

“She ran to our expectations of just breezing today,” trainer Jose Camejo said after the race. “We’ve been taking our time with her, giving her all summer. She went through a couple things and only worked her a couple times and she showed off today that she is the best Louisiana-bred.”

Not racing since her win last March in the Page Cortez, .30-1 Ova Charged proved she is still the top Louisiana-bred sprinter. The only fraction she didn’t lead was the first as Drop Dead Sexy shot out to the front from the outside post, stopping the quarter-mile timer in 21.78 seconds. Shuffled back after the break, Ova Charged’s rider Jose Rodriguez waited for a lane then prompted her through, quickly making the lead at 45.28, and opening up in the homestretch. Following the entire way, stablemate Spirited Beauty cruised along in second through the stretch, showing energy and shrinking the final gap to two lengths. Snowball came late for third.  Ova Charged cruised under the wire, stopping the clock at 1:11.04.

“I was thinking that if she was able to get in one race over the summer, we would enter her in the Breeders’ Cup (Filly & Mare Sprint), but we decided to just let her be a horse,” Camejo said. “But that’s something we are targeting for next year. Hopefully we keep her sound and she gets in.”

On his first day riding at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, jockey Jose Rodriguez scored a riding triple.

With a 7-6-1-0 record and $264,600 in earnings, Louisiana-bred fillies across the state are saying their prayers tonight that Ova Charged will take her unique talents out of the restricted ranks and into graded stakes waters.