Touchuponastar with jockey Tim Thornton and owner Jake Delhomme in the winner's circle after his victory in the $500,000 Grade II New Orleans Classic on Saturday March 22, 2025 at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans.
[BY JEFF DUNCAN | Staff writer](https://www.nola.com/users/profile/Jeff%20Duncan)
Jake Delhomme enjoyed many joyous moments in his football career, including an NFC championship in 2004, but nothing compared to the feeling of watching his horse, Touchuponastar, lead the whole way in the New Orleans Classic on Saturday at the Fair Grounds Race Course.
The former NFL and UL quarterback was rendered breathless and nearly speechless after watching his Louisiana-bred gelding's wire-to-wire, upset victory in the $500,000 Grade II stakes race.
“I’m as high as a kite right now, it’s awesome,” Delhomme said, while surrounded by friends and family in the crowded winner's circle. “We’re from Louisiana, so to do it here in front of the home crowd, it’s a dream come true.”
Jockey Tim Thornton sent Touchuponastar to the lead in the five-horse field and the speedy son of Star Guitar set modest fractions of 24.0 and 47.4 seconds on the front end. He spurted away from the field at the top of the stretch.
“Making the lead alone, having him prick his ears, I knew we were ready to win this,” Thornton said. “He was absolutely loaded today.”
Touchuponastar’s 2½-length victory was the biggest of Delhomme’s career as a horse owner and breeder. The $300,000 winner’s purse increased the 6-year-old son of Star Guitar’s lifetime earnings to $1.4 million.
“He’s so classy,” Delhomme said. “He’s just a special, special horse.”
Hall of Fame placed second, while Sierra Leone finished a disappointing third at 1-5 odds.
“He never got into a rhythm,” said jockey Flavien Pratt, who rode Sierra Leone. “He was struggling to keep up the pace. He made a run late, but those horses were all running away.”
Unbeaten Good Cheer validated her reputation as the top 3-year-old filly in the nation with a decisive victory in the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks.
Good Cheer earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks with the win, which was her sixth in as many starts. Her final time over the 1 1/16th mile course was 1:43.4. The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro increased her lifetime earnings to $877,630.
It was the fourth Oaks win in the past six years for trainer Brad Cox.
“This is a very good filly, and we’re really proud of her," Cox said. "She had to work hard to finish up but she finished very well. She’s not massive, but we've got two races in her as a 3-year-old, and we have six weeks between now and the Kentucky Oaks to get her ready.”
Avaha, a lightly raced second-time starter for trainer Cherie DeVaux, was the early pacesetter and held on for second to earn 50 Oaks points. Gowell’s Delight was a non-threatening third.
### Muniz Memorial Classic
Idratherbeblessed stunned the field of olde turf horses with a wire-to-wire win at 86-1 odds.
Noting the early results on the speed-favoring turf course, jockey Ben Curtis sent the 5-year-old son of Unified to the lead out of the gate and slowed the pace down on the back stretch. At the top of the stretch, the field closed in on the front-runner, but he had enough left to hold off Gigante by a neck at the wire.
Idratherbeblessed rewarded his backers with across-the-board payoffs of $174.20, $70.20 and $28.40.
"I was able to get into a rhythm and do my own thing on the front end. He's a horse who really sticks his head down and tries," Curtis said. "I think the extra distance really stood to him. I know he was a long shot on the board, but his most recent work was the best he’s ever put in. He got it done today.”
### Tom Benson Memorial
Way to be Marie snuck through a tight hole on the rail to gain the lead in the stretch and held off a fast-closing Tufani to win the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial for older fillies and mares on the turf.
The win was the third in five starts at the Fair Grounds for Way to be Marie, who covered the 1 1/16th mile turf course in 1:43.03 under jockey Florent Geroux.