NEW ORLEANS — Ive Struck a Nerve, allowed to go off at odds of 135-1, edged out Code West in a photo finish to pull off a stunning upset in the $400,000 Grade II Risen Star Stakes on Saturday at the Fair Grounds in the final prep for the Louisiana Derby.

Ive Struck a Nerve, Code West, trained by Bob Bafftert, and Palace Malice were nose to nose down the stretch, with Oxbow, one of the favorites lurking. Code West had overtaken early pacesetter Proud Strike at the half-mile pole but Oxbow entered the stretch ahead by 1 length.

But jockey James Graham steered Ive Struck a Nerve along the rail, and deftly moved him to the outside, where he broke free and overtook Code West to win by a nose.

“I can’t believe it,” Ive Struck a Nerve trainer J. Keith Desormeaux said. “We’ve always thought highly of the horse. The expectations were we would finally get a clean trip at that distance. He’s never had a clean trip around two turns.”

Ive Struck a Nerve covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1.44.52. He was listed at 99-1 on the tote board, but he paid $272.40, $110.60 and $42.40.

“The ride was perfect,” Desormeaux said. “He [broke] aggressive but not enough where he wouldn’t listen to what [Graham] was asking him to do and that is to settle off the pace.”

Code West, trained by Baffert, paid $8.80 and $5.60.

Ive Struck a Nerve earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, which should be enough to earn him a spot in the field. Code West earned 20 points, Palace Malice 10 and Oxbow five.

Desormeaux said the next race for Ive Struck a Nerve will likely be the Louisiana Derby on March 30.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Orb edges Violence

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Orb took advantage of some blistering early fractions to catch and then held off heavily favored Violence by half a length to win the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Orb, trained by Shug McGaughey, has gone from a horse that was beaten by a combined 31 lengths in his first three starts to possibly being a Kentucky Derby contender.

Under the new points system that could come into play for qualifying for the Derby, Orb is off to a flying start.This weekend marked the first time certain prep races - the Fountain of Youth being one of two - was awarding as many as 50 points for a victory. The available number of points will keep rising until the Derby, but it’s hard to envision a horse with 50 points not getting into the field.

Jockey John Velazquez asked Orb to take off as the field headed into the far turn, and with one sweeping move he ran down the leaders, then dug deep to hold off a second challenge from Violence, who lost for the first time in his four career starts.

Maybe Violence had some rust to shake off.

Orb ran the distance in 1:42.24 seconds on a fast track. Orb returned $12.80, $4 and $3 for the win. Violence paid $2.40 and $2.10, and third place Speak Logistics returned $4 to show.

Sports, Pages 29 on 02/24/2013