Act a Fool leads all the way in Hawthorne Derby
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It was small consolation for his connections, but Act a Fool went wire to wire to easily win the $100,000 Hawthorne Derby on a windy Sunday at Hawthorne Race Course.
Going straight to the front under Alexis Centeno, Act a Fool never came close to being threatened and came home a 4 1/2-length winner of this nine-furlong turf contest for 3-year-olds.
Larry Rivelli trains Act a Fool for Richard Ravin and Vince Foglia’s Patricia’s Hope. Patricia’s Hope is the principal owner of 3-year-old Two Phil’s, who was discovered Sunday to have come out of his romping Ohio Derby win Saturday with an ankle injury. Less than an hour before the Hawthorne Derby, Rivelli had revealed that Two Phil’s was en route to a Kentucky veterinary clinic.
Act a Fool is no Two Phil’s, among the top few 3-year-olds in his class, but he has gotten very good. Since getting beat a country mile in his career debut over Turfway Park’s Tapeta surface, Act a Fool now has run off four straight victories, all by wide margins, while climbing the class ladder.
Sunday marked Act a Fool’s stakes and grass debut, but as a son of the turf horse Oscar Performer and the mare Post Script, by Quality Road, Act a Fool was bred for the surface switch and didn’t miss a beat.
With gusty west winds swirling, and racing over a grass course turned yielding by overnight rain, Act a Fool was allowed to coast solo through slow splits of 24.32 and 49.80, a half-mile fraction even easier than the raw time since the backstretch run was wind-aided. Out of Deductions, the surprising favorite at 6-5, tried to close the gap around the far turn, but Centeno had saved plenty and Act a Fool dashed away to win easily. The win price was a ridiculously high $8.40 on a horse who should have been favored.
Really Good, who managed to get himself bottled up in traffic most of the race despite the Hawthorne Derby going with just six horses, came on late to nab second from a struggling Out of Deductions. The Manny Perez-trained trio of Wolf Hunter, Russian Hammer, and Money Hunter brought up the rear.
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