Marcus Hersh, Daily Racing Form

When she doesn’t race in a turf sprint at Fair Grounds, Extravanganza has won once in eight starts. But in Fair Grounds one-turn turf races, the 6-year-old mare has been unbeatable. On Saturday, she ran her local grass record to 4 for 4 with a narrow win in the $75,000 Happy Ticket Stakes.

Extravaganza, with Richard Eramia up, squeezed through a narrow gap in the final furlong and nipped the pacesetting Storm’s Promise to win by a nose, with Monono another half-length behind in third. The top three finishers all were part of a stewards’ inquiry into the stretch run, which saw Going to Kukaro checked back to second-last, but no change was made to the order of finish.

An Elusive Quality mare co-bred and owned by Arthur Hancock’s Stone Farm, Extravaganza has made only 12 starts early into her 6-year-old campaign, her career interrupted by a layoff of one year between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2011. Extravaganza went unraced between July and Feb. 17, when she won a Fair Grounds turf-sprint allowance, before notching her first stakes victory in the Happy Ticket.

“Mr. Hancock is always great about giving horses the time they need,” said winning trainer Mike Stidham. “It worked out for this filly.”

Extravaganza paid $7.20 to win and was timed in 1:03.96. She earned a career-high 92 Beyer.