Put Me In put herself atop the distaff sprint category at Fair Grounds, winning the $75,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial Handicap Saturday.
Put Me In, trained by Merrill Scherer and ridden by Eddie Martin Jr., laid off the early pace set by odds-on favorite Tina Bull and Savorthetime. Savorthetime put a head in front of Tina Bull at the top of the stretch, but Put Me In swung three-wide and collared the leaders just inside the eighth pole, going on to a 1 1/2-length victory, her second stakes win this meet. The running time for six furlongs was 1:09 4/5.
Savorthetime edged out Tina Bull for second in the field of eight older fillies and mares. Winning Fever was scratched.
Put Me In, who won the Leggio Memorial Handicap in January but finished fourth in the Pan Zareta Handicap in her last start, paid $20, $10 and $3. Savorthetime returned $10 and $3.20, while Tina Bull paid $2.10 to show.
"She broke good and laid right off the pace," Scherer said. "She's the most docile thing. It's like training a cow. She's an unbelievable horse."
Scherer said Put Me In bled in the Pan Zareta. "She moved like she was going to win," he said, "and she came up empty."
The win was Scherer's 25th of the meet, in which he ranks fourth in the trainer's standings. He has won at a 33% rate.
"I can't complain about this meet," he said. "It's been very good to me."
Put Me In won for the seventh time in 13 lifetime starts for the Estate of Mary Lou Heleringer. The $45,000 winner's share of the purse elevated her career earnings to more than $207,000.
Distinctive Code, who won this race last year when it was run as the Victoria Lass Handicap, broke poorly and finished sixth.
(Chart, Equibase)