Fair Grounds: Hero of Order wins a shocker at 109-1 in Louisiana Derby

NEW ORLEANS – Russian-immigrant trainer Gennadi Dorochenko goes about his business in an unconventional manner. Morning workouts? Those, Dorochenko – a former jockey – shuns, calling them the province of trainers who want merely to impress owners. What Dorochenko does is race. His horses run far more frequently than those of most American trainers. They run a lot, and they lose a lot. At Fair Grounds this meet, Dorochenko had started 136 horses before Sunday. Six had won.

A 3-year-old colt named Hero of Order was making his ninth start of the Fair Grounds season Sunday. It came in the $1 million Louisiana Derby. And Hero of Order, a 109-1 shot, won it by a half-length, giving Dorochenko one of the most unlikely successes of recent racing history. Hero of Order’s $220.80 win mutuel was the highest in Louisiana Derby history.

“It’s a dream,” Dorochenko said.

Dorochenko, 53, is the operator of Raut LLC, Hero of Order’s owner. Every year at the Keeneland September sale, Dorochenko buys a large quantity of bargain-basement yearlings. Hero of Order cost $3,000. He earned $600,000 for Sunday’s win, the second stakes victory of Dorochenko’s career.

Also in on the shock factor was 46-year-old jockey Eddie Martin, who rode Hero of Order for the first time in a half-mile workout last week. Martin, a New Orleans native, rode at Delta Downs this winter, but used to ply his trade at Fair Grounds. Until Sunday, He’d won every race of import at this track save one – the Louisiana Derby.