Pitched into the deep end against winners in a career debut, Seaport Lane turned Thursday’s sprint at Fair Grounds into a procession, roaring to the front and lasting for a 2-length victory.

This was a meaningful validation of the talent that trainer Cherie DeVaux and her husband, David Ingordo, had seen in Seaport Lane for many months. The 4-year-old colt tested the patience of all involved, delayed several times when his substantial frame told Cherie and her team that he was not quite ready to push on to the races.

She tried to unveil him in a maiden special weight last week in New Orleans but the race didn’t draw enough entries to be carded. Instead, she leaned on her confidence in Seaport Lane’s ability in thinking outside the box and putting him up against seasoned performers in an “a other than” allowance.

Seaport Lane answered the call with jockey Jose Ortiz on board, bounding to the lead right out of the gate and turning back all challenges, including a final bid from favored Pinfire, who came in off of two straight wins and a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

Cherie said, “That was impressive. Given that the other horses had fitness and experience from racing, Seaport Lane did everything today on his natural ability. I had him ready but not cranked on. He was blowing hard when he came back, but that is to be expected. I couldn’t be prouder of the horse, our team and the ownership group. I wanted to thank everyone for being patient and allowing us to do right by Seaport Lane, because of that, we got the victory today and hopefully more to come!”

Jose said “He broke sharp and that was it. I knew he was fast from working him and he has natural gate speed. He did that on his own. I could feel him getting a little tired in the stretch, but when that other horse came to him, he took off again. I can’t ask for a horse to debut any better than that.”