NEW ORLEANS - The powerful trio of Millennium Wind, Hero's Tribute and Dollar Bill finished heads apart Sunday in Louisiana Derby, but they were a couple lengths too slow. Fifty Stars, all but forgotten after disappointing efforts in his last two starts, charged to the lead inside the final half-furlong and beat Millennium Wind by two lengths in the Grade 2, $750,000 Derby.

	Fifty Stars (left), with Donnie Meche aboard, breaks from the starting gate before winning the Louisiana Derby Sunday.

In a roughly run race, Hero's Tribute finished third, a neck behind Millennium Wind and a head in front of Dollar Bill, the 8-5 favorite under Pat Day. Dollar Bill clipped heels at the top of the stretch while in full stride along the inside and nearly fell, but recovered to finish strongly. Trainer Dallas Stewart said Dollar Bill appeared to be uninjured when he returned to be unsaddled.

Fifty Stars, a Quiet American colt owned by Jim Cassels and Bob Zollars, was given a clean trip and a great ride by jockey Donnie Meche. At the back of the field with a half-mile to run, Fifty Stars wove between horses in the stretch, hit the front just past the sixteenth pole and was alone in the final yards.

"Not everyone had a great trip today," trainer Steve Asmussen said from the winner’s circle. "We’re just lucky to be the ones standing here right now."

Less than a length separated the group of four behind the winner, with the 100-1 shot True Concern, who led at the eighth-pole, hanging on for fifth. Fifty Stars, a 20-1 shot, ran 1 1/16-miles in 1:44.78 and paid $43 to win.

Fifty Stars broke well but has no early speed and dropped back to seventh on the first turn as Gracie's Dancer, pursued by Unreal Party, set the early pace.

Millennium Wind was the favorite closest to the early pace, stalking while three-wide down the backstretch. Hero's Tribute broke a step slow and was trapped along the inside at the back of a lead pack of five. Dollar Bill had great position while in the clear on the backstretch and far turn. Fifty Stars had only True Concern beaten after a half-mile.

The pace was moderately quick for a racetrack that played fast and to speed throughout the card. Gracie's Dancer, second in the Risen Star, ran a quarter-mile in 23.44 seconds and a half-mile in 46.37 seconds, and was still battling Millennium Wind for the lead after three-quarters in 1:11.37.

The action got furious turning for home. Dollar Bill moved up along the inside and Day was waiting for a hole to open along the rail when he clipped heels with a tiring Gracie's Dancer.

Meche and Fifty Stars moved up along the inside and filled the opening left by Dollar Bill's mishap. As he went outside Dollar Bill, Meche swung back inside and found racing room with a very live horse. "I smooched to him and he went right through it," said Meche, who scored the biggest win of his career.

Running Fifty Stars in the Derby hardly was a no brainer. Fifty Stars blossomed late and improved when he started running two turns, but the colt failed to make a strong impression in two races at Fair Grounds this winter, finishing fourth as the favorite in the Lecomte Stakes and a flat fifth in the Risen Star.

"This erased the disappointment of the last two," trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Asmussen said he gave Fifty Stars another chance in a top race because the colt had trained well and was running on his home track. "That's why we didn't go looking for an easier spot," he said. Asmussen also felt the colt would continue to improve as the year unfolded. "We didn’t lose faith," he said.

Asmussen and the colt’s owners haven’t committed Fifty Stars to another race, but Cassels and Zollars are from the Dallas area and Asmussen said the April 7 Lone Star Derby was under consideration. "We're going to the (Kentucky) Derby," Asmussen said. "We'll have to see how we get there."

Fifty Stars became eligible for a $1 million bonus Fair Grounds has offered to a horse that wins the Louisiana Derby and the Kentucky Derby. Lone Star Park has a $1 million bonus of its own for a horse that wins the Lone Star Derby and any Triple Crown race.

Millennum Wind had the best trip among the favorites. "He just got outrun the last sixteenth," jockey Chris McCarron said. "He might've gotten a little tire, but it wasn't bad for his first race in two months."

Millennium Wind, Dollar Bill and Hero's Tribute could meet next in the Blue Grass. Like Dollar Bill, Hero's Tribute had an excuse from Sunday's race. The colt was boxed in around the far turn, swung inside turning for home and ended up rallying on the far outside. Jockey Jorge Chavez said the colt was unfocused during the stretch run.

Wagering on the Derby was disrupted by a problem with the tote system that prevented bettors nationwide from wagering for more than 10 minutes. Total handle on the Derby was down about $900,000 from last year, while ontrack handle was down from $176,000 to $39,000.