Opelousas –Odd-on favorite Nice Inheritance ($3.60) nipped Cutie Sabrina in the final stride to win the $60,000 Matron Handicap for fillies & mares at Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino on Saturday evening. Forwardly placed throughout under jockey Randall Toups, the four-year-old daughter of Pure Prize angled to the outside at the top of the stretch while in pursuit of Cutie Sabrina and needed every inch of the Evangeline Downs stretch to earn her second black type victory in her last three starts for owner/trainer Steve Asmussen.



The running time for the one mile was 1:38 4/5 on a track labeled fast.



Cutie Sabrina, the only Louisiana bred filly or mare in the field, had to settle for second after setting most of the pace thru fractions of 23 2/5, 47 2/5, and 1:12 2/5 for the six furlongs. Miss Peachtree finished third, 4 1/2 lengths behind the top two, with Ruling Class another neck farther back in fourth. Cinnamon Strike was next in fifth, followed by Sarahlane’sdestiny, Silent Fusaichi, Empress Jacqueline and Smile N Wave Boys. Nine M. M. was scratched.



Earning $36,000 for her third win of the current season, Nice Inheritance pushed her 2008 bankroll past the $120,000 mark and has now earned more than $240,000 in her career. She is by the Brazilian bred Mistrel Glory mare Born to Glory and was bred in Kentucky by Santa Escolastica.



Racing continues on a Wednesday thru Saturday schedule with a post time of 6:20 p.m. each evening.