After taking the Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes Feb. 14 at Fair Grounds with Paladin, five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown struck again at Fair Grounds March 21 by taking the track's richest race, the Grade 2 $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby with second-time starter Emerging Market.

Similar to Paladin's Risen Star half-length victory, this one didn't come easily. Emerging Market bid from fifth and needed the length of the Fair Grounds' long stretch run to wear down pacesetting Sunland Derby winner Pavlovian. He finished a head in front at the wire timed in 1:55.18 for 1 3/16 miles on a fast track under jockey Flavien Prat. Emerging Market improved his record to 2-for-2 and paid $6 to win.

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"In his first race he showed a lot of professionalism," Prat said of Emerging Market's debut victory last month at Tampa Bay Downs. "I was a little worried about the nine (post), but we worked out a good trip. He fought hard. It was a good run, very professional. Honestly, when I turned for home I thought I would win easily, but Pavlovian gave us a good challenge."

The winner's time was the third fastest of seven runnings of the Louisiana Derby since Fair Grounds extended the race to its current 1 3/16-mile distance in 2020.

The Louisiana Derby was a 100 points-to-the-winner prep race on the 2025-26 Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve that offered a total of 200 qualifying points toward the May 2 Kentucky Derby distributed on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to their top five finishers. Based on historical trends, at least the first two finishers typically have enough points to secure entrance into the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes winner Golden Tempo, racing with blinkers for the first time, rallied to show in Saturday's race after a troubled start. His rally stalled in the final eighth of a mile and he finished a length behind the top two finishers. Universe was another 5 1/2 lengths back in fourth. Chip Honcho tired to fifth.

Pavlovian proved a stubborn foe and refused to be passed until the very late stages of the Louisiana Derby stretch after setting splits of :22.65, :46.23, and 1:10.85. Pavlovian now has 70 points including 50 points for his runner-up finish plus his earlier 20 points earned for his nose victory in the Feb. 15 Sunland Derby.

Flavien Prat all smiles aboard the winner. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The third through fifth-place finishers could also potentially qualify for the first leg of the Triple Crown due to having also accrued points in earlier races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Golden Tempo has a total of 60 points, Universe has 38, and Chip Honcho has 49.

Thirty-nine points were required to make the body of the Kentucky Derby field in 2025 though Baeza was able to draw into the race as an also-eligible after a scratch with 37 1/2 points.

Emerging Market has 100 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby and earned $600,000 for Saturday's win, increasing his earnings to $618,880. His first victory came in a fast time in a maiden route at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 7.

Brown has run horses in the Derby for Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables through the years, but they have also exercised caution at times with lightly raced runners. Those moves have paid dividends in the second leg of the Triple Crown in the Preakness Stakes contested two weeks after the Derby. Back in 2017, Brown scored his first win in a Triple Crown race when he won the 1 3/16-mile Preakness with Cloud Computing co-owned by Klaravich Stables. Five years later he struck again in the Preakness with Early Voting for Klaravich Stables. Those horses lost their preps leading into the Derby.

Brown, in a post-race interview with BloodHorse, expressed interest in running Emerging Market in the opening leg of the Triple Crown. He plans to meet with Klarman March 22 to discuss options.

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"I think taking the Derby off the table is being too conservative at this point," Brown said.

Brown is 0-2-1 with nine runners in the Derby. His in-the-money finishes were a second with Good Magic in 2018, a third from Zandon in 2022, and a runner-up finish by a nose from Sierra Leone in 2024.

This year, he has three horses already qualified for the Derby based on points also including Paladin and Iron Honor. Paladin is the early Derby favorite.

No horse has won the Derby without having at least three starts. According to Churchill Downs publicity, only seven runners have competed after making only one or two prior lifetime starts, the most recent of which was the Japanese horse T O Password who finished fifth in 2024.

Brown said Emerging Market wouldn't run again ahead of the Derby if he and Klarman move forward to run the colt in the May 2 race.

Five participants from the Louisiana Derby have gone on to glory in the run for the roses, the most recent of which was Mandaloun, who, after a sixth-place finish in the 2021 Louisiana Derby, took the Kentucky Derby later that spring via the disqualification of Medina Spirit for a medication violation. Black Gold (1924) and Grindstone (1996) are the only horses to win both races.