Just Might Just Holds Sway in Colonel Power

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Griffon Farms and Michelle Lovell homebred Colonel Power took the field gate to wire, just holding sway in the shadow of the wire to capture Saturday’s $100,000 Colonel Power Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Breaking sharply from post 9 under Colby Hernandez at 20/1 odds, Just Might safely cleared her inside foes and controlled the action from along the rail. While Malpais gave closest chase, Just Might posted opening fractions of :22.01 and :44.71 under his own power.

Given the green light at the 1/8 pole, Just Might came under pressure from Chaos Theory but dug in and fought back. Under strong handling, Just Might necked out Chaos Theory at the wire in a final time of 1:02.15 for the 5 1/2-furlong sprint over the firm turf course.

“There was some speed that scratched,” said Lovell, who also trains the winner. “When I saw that, I told Colby to not take anything away from him. He’s run well from just off the pace as well, but we thought, if he broke well, we’ll just let him do his own thing.”

Chaos Theory, the 2/1 favorite, was unable to usurp the pacesetter but did finish 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Fast Boat in third. Blind Ambition rallied to take fourth by a 1/2-length over Star of Kodiak, with Powell 3/4 of a length behind them.

Made You Look, McFeely, and a faltering Malpais completed the order of finish. Nicky Numbers and Early Mischief were scratched.

Just Might’s win came in his stakes debut and was his second straight overall, having taken a local allowance/optional claiming event here on January 23. The 4-year-old gelded son of Just Phillip improved his record to 14-3-4-4 with $172,007 earned.

“It’s a really special race to win with all of my owners here,” Lovell said. “We knew he would be competitive in some allowance races, but we thought he could handle better and he proved it today.”

Just Might returned $42.60 to win, $14 to place, and $6 to show. Chaos Theory brought back $4 to place and $3.20 to show, while Fast Boat paid $3.20 to show.