NEW ORLEANS - High Limit answered all the questions with an emphatic four-length victory in the Grade II $600,000 Louisiana Derby Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course.

Ramon Dominguez rode the son of Maria's Mon, who covered the mile and a sixteenth over a fast track in 1:42.74.

Now conditioned by Hall-of-Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, High Limit returned from a more than four-month layoff to capture his sophomore debut and remain perfect from three career starts. He earned $360,000 for the score to boost his bankroll to $402,000.

Quick from the gate, High Limit had a clear lead throughout the race and took the field through moderate fractions 23.56, 47.36, 1:11.85 and 1:36.26 en route to the final clocking, which was .14 off the stakes record of 1:42.60 set by Crypto Star in 1997.

"I was very pleased," said Dominguez, who has ridden the bay colt in all three career starts. "He finished very strong. He gave as much as you asked him to. The only other time I hit him was the second time out when he went two turns for the first time. I was not surprised by his performance. He seems to be a very good horse."

Frankel was saddling the horse for the first time in the Louisiana Derby. Anthony Dutrow trained High Limit during his Delaware Park-based 2-year-old campaign.

"The first time you run a horse, you never know how they are going to run," said Frankel, who won the Louisiana Derby for the second time in three years after scoring with Peace Rules in 2003. "He seems to run for everybody. He's a good horse. Hopefully this race didn't take too much out of him. Next up (is) probably the Wood (Memorial at Aqueduct April 9) or the Blue Grass (Stakes at Keeneland April 16). We'll have to see how he came out of this race."

Vicarage chased High Limit every step of the way but was never a threat to the winner.

"He was a little headstrong early, but he settled in nice down the backside," said John Velazquez, who rode the runner-up. "He ran a good race. I'm happy with the way he ran. It was his first race around two turns, and he showed he can hang with the distance."

It was another 3 3/4 lengths back to third-place finisher Storm Surge. "He was in a good spot, a spot I was comfortable with," said Storm Surge's rider, Jerry Bailey., "I asked him to creep up closer before he turned for home, and that's as close as we got."

The post time favorite, High Limit paid $7.20, $6.20 and $4.40. Vicarage, dismissed at odds of 21-1, returned $16.80 and $9.80. Storm Surge paid $4.80

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