Love the Way You Fly Impresses in $30,000 Scoopies Leaving You Stakes at Evangeline

Love The Way You Fly, under jockey Juan Garcia, Jr., splashes to a 1-¼ length win in the. $30,000 Scoopies Leaving You Stakes Saturday night at Evangeline Downs.

© Coady Photography

OPELOUSAS, LA—DECEMBER 18, 2021—An evening of stakes races at Evangeline on Saturday night kicked off with the $30,000 Scoopies Leaving You Stakes. Love the Way You Fly flew home to win the first stake of the night over a sloppy track.

Love the Way You Fly ($6.60) and jockey Juan Garcia, Jr cleared the field by a length and a quarter and covered 250 yards in 12.832 to earn a 116 speed index.

Love the Way You Fly is trained by Trey Ellis for owner Todd Matte. The 3-year-old colt is by Furyofthewind and was bred in Louisiana by Copper Spring Ranch LLC. A stakes winner and multiple stakes placed earner of $205,761, Love the Way You Fly is out of the 2014 winner of the Heritage Place Futurity (G1), Lovethewayyoulie, by Tempting Dash.

The winning connections of Love The Way You Fly accept the Scoopies Leaving You Stakes trophy Saturday at Evangeline Downs. © Coady Photography

Love the Way You Fly is six for 20 lifetime. He won the LQHBA Louisiana Million Invitational at Evangeline and qualified to the Laddie Futurity (RG2) as a 2-year-old. As a 3-year-old, he was second in the LQHBA Breeders Derby (RG3) and qualified to the Delta Downs Louisiana Bred Derby (RG3) before winning the Flying Breed Stakes in July. He has finished second in the Gentilly Dash and the Evangeline Dash Stakes in the current Evangeline meet.

Steam Rollyr and jockey Everardo Rodriguez finished second for trainer Rosendo Valdez, Jr. and owner Alejandro Sanchez, Jr. The 4-year-old Freighttrain B gelding was bred in Louisiana by Marco Ramirez and Gary Hartstack.

In his previous start, Steam Rollyr defeated Love the Way You Fly as the winner of the Gentilly Dash Stakes, one of his five career wins in 15 starts. He has earned $88,955.

Powerhouse Cartel finished third by a head in his second stakes appearance. Eleazar Hernandez had the riding call for trainer Leonel Hernandez and owner SLC Racing, LLC. Grant Farms bred the gelding in Louisiana, by Mr Piloto and out of Corona Deluxe, by Corona Cartel.

Powerhouse Cartel is a 5-year-old gelding with four wins in 19 starts and $61,995 earned.

Love the Way You Fly returned $6.60 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.20 to show. Steam Rollyr paid $2.60 to place and $2.10 to show. Powerhouse Cartel paid $3 to show.

Completing the field were Brileys Prize, On Point and Perry Mouse Tale. Politically Blue was scratched.

Additional reporting by Martha Claussen.

Live racing resumes on Monday with a special 4:05pm (CST) first post. The final two weeks of the season will feature a Monday through Thursday racing calendar. The Evangeline Downs Quarter Horse season runs through December 30.