Louisiana

Free Like a Girl Named Louisiana Horse of the Year

Published

1 year ago

March 10, 2025

Free Like a Girl Named Louisiana Horse of the Year

Grade 1-placed, five-time stakes winner in 2024, and millionaire Free Like a Girl was named the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association’s Horse of the Year, the organization announced March 10 along with its other champions for the year.

Bred by Kim Renee Stover and Lisa Osborne, Free Like a Girl won six times and placed five times out of 14 starts last year and banked $1,039,400 in earnings. The now-6-year-old daughter of El Deal out of Flashy Prize (Flashy Bull ) has compiled a career record of 21-13-6 from 49 starts and has total earnings of $2,253,438.

Partners Gerald Bruno Jr. and Jerry Caroom campaigned the mare with co-owner/trainer Chasey Deville Pomier. They won the Shantel Lanerie Memorial Stakes, Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes, Magnolia Stakes, Treasure Chest Stakes, and John Valene Memorial Stakes. The mare also ran second in the La Troienne Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs and third in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park.

Free Like a Girl also was named champion 4-year-old and up filly or mare. Her Horse of the Year title is her second, having received this top honor in 2022 along with being named champion 3-year-old filly. Bruno bought Free Like a Girl for $5,500 during the 2020 Equine Sales of Louisiana Yearling Sale from consignor Oakridge Farm.

Evelyn Benoit’s Brittlyn Stable was named breeder of the year based on having accumulated the highest amount of breeder’s awards for the calendar year. Brittlyn was represented by four black-type stakes winners last year, led by hombred grade 3 winners Manama Gold and Ova Charged . Both graded stakes winners are by Brittlyn’s homebred stallion Star Guitar , who was named 2024’s leading Louisiana stallion. Star Guitar stands at Clear Creek Stud.

Charged Cotton, a stakes-winning daughter of Dehere and the dam of Manama Gold and Ova Charged, was named broodmare of the year. Ova Charged won six of seven starts last year, with five wins in black-type stakes. Her top performance came in the Unbridled Sydney Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs. Manama Gold won last year’s UAE Oaks (G3) at Meydan Racecourse.

Tony Doughtie is the year’s leading Louisiana breeder by percent stakes winners at 40% from starters. This category considers all breeders with five or more starters.

The LTBA’s other champions for 2024 were elected by its membership. are as follows:

Awards will be presented during the LTBA annual banquet, which is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 2 at Evangeline Downs. The banquet will be held in conjunction with a fundraiser for the Rehoming and Education for Off-Track Thoroughbreds program, also known as R.E.A.P.

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Louisiana

Louisiana to redraw congressional map after court ruling

Published

3 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana to redraw congressional map after court ruling

A state lawmaker whose district includes Iberville and nine other parishes will lead the way on the drawing of a new congressional map when the committee convenes Friday.

Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, will chair the hearings to draw a new congressional district map. He currently serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.

On Wednesday, Kleinpeter said he has not worked on any maps. He is letting the committee members and the members of the Senate work on this with staff.

The move will come nine days after the U.S. Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote ruled one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black U.S. House districts unconstitutional.

“We can’t base it on race anymore, so the minority party is the Democrats,” he said. “The Democrats have migrated away from the New Orléans area, so we’re looking at Democrats versus Republicans, so the minority party — the Democrats — which means it’s more favored toward Baton Rouge.”

The move would work in favor of incumbent 6^th District Congressman Cleo Fields, who was a candidate for the race which Gov. Jeff Lndry suspended in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.

The ruling stemmed from Louisiana vs. Callais – a consolidation of Robinson vs. Callais – that centered on racial gerrymandering and redistricting in the state of Louisiana following the 2020 United States census. The lead plaintiff, Phillip “Bert” Callais, is a resident of Brusly.

The Supreme Court vote came despite the African American population comprising nearly one-third of the state’s population.

According to the 2020 Census, the Black or African American population in Louisiana was approximately 1,464,023,representing 31.4%of the state’s total population. Louisiana has one of the highest percentages of Black residents in the United States, ranking second behind Mississippi.

The Baton Rouge district would likely be the area to undergo the remap, he said.

It amounts to an intricate balancing act.

“What far-right Republicans don’t understand is that with Congress maps, you have to be within 776, 280 votes – within 50 votes of the other districts,” Kleinpeter said. “It’s not like our legislative maps where you can be off by thousands … when you start changing a precinct, it can run down a rabbit hole chasing this precinct over here and over there.

“We can easily draw a really strong nine Republican and one strong Democrat, so if you start watering districts down you could wind up with a 4-2 map.”

Republicans currently have a two-vote super majority vote.

“But some Republican districts are strong and others are weak,” Kleinpeter said. “If you take 58 percent Democrats and put them in Republican districts, you could end up losing Republicans.

“Drawing congress maps is very difficult – you have the leader of the party, and you have the Speaker of the House you have to protect,” he said. “You don’t want to jeopardize their maps at hole.”

One other issue is looming for the state, Kleinpeter said.

“What people don’t understand is that we will have to do this all over again in five years, after the next census comes out,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll people by that time.”

The 2030 Census will play a key role in the process, but it still requires participation.

“I had plenty of next-door neighbors who didn’t want to fill out their census” he said. “I’m going to push to fill out their census. We miss out on federal money and potentially risk losing a seat. “

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Louisiana

Neuty, the beloved Bucktown nutria rat that charmed Louisiana, has died

Published

15 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

Neuty, the beloved Bucktown nutria rat that charmed Louisiana, has died

Neuty, the iconic Bucktown nutria visits the state capitol, with Myra Lacoste, Denny Lacoste, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Dennis Lacoste Sr., and Louisiana state Senator J. Cameron Henry Jr. Neuty was an orphan, rescued by the Lacostes. In March 2023, LDWF agents attempted to confiscate the illegal pet.

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Louisiana

Louisiana State Police arrest 18-year-old in Vidalia crash t…

Published

1 day ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana State Police arrest 18-year-old in Vidalia crash t…

VIDALIA, La. — Louisiana State Police arrested 18-year-old Gregory Steele early Sunday morning on two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of underage operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, one count vehicular negligent injuring and one count careless operation, according to Concordia Parish Jail records.

Steele, 18, a white male, was arrested in connection with an accident that occurred at approximately 1:54 a.m. on Sunday morning on Minorca Road in Vidalia. Two passengers in the vehicle were killed. Steele and another passenger were able to escape the vehicle.

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