Beeline proves tough with game victory in Hutcheson

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Beeline already proved he was fast with his well-graded debut victory earlier in the meet. On Saturday, the promising 3-year-old showed he was also dead game as well, withstanding a couple of early challenges before holding safe a final surge from longshot Improptude to register a well-deserved nose decision in the $100,000 Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Beeline launched his career here on Feb. 10 with a 3 3/4-length victory over stablemate Mr Skylight in a six-furlong maiden special weight dash for which he earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure. A performance that earned him a spot in the six-furlong Hutcheson in just his second career start.

With jockey Edgar Zayas aboard, Beeline broke alertly and set the early pace, while prompted from the outset by Limehouse Stakes winner Ship to Shore. Beeline briefly relinquished the lead to that rival midway to the turn but regained a narrow advantage entering the stretch. He then repulsed another challenge from Valiant Force approaching the furlong grounds, before withstanding Improptude’s closing rally after being angled out near the middle of the track by Zayas a sixteenth of a mile from the wire.

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Improptude raced near the rear of the compact lineup for over a half-mile, was taken out to the center of the stretch commencing his bid leaving the final turn, and finished best of all only to fall just short. Patriot Spirit moved within easy striking distance of the top pair near midstretch but lacked the necessary closing response, finishing another 1 1/2 lengths farther back in third.

Valiant Force, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint runner-up, was a disappointment in his main track debut. Bumped briefly between horses after the start, the Group 2 winner recovered to loom boldly outside the leaders turning for home only to flatten out through the final furlong when roused, finishing a tiring fourth, nearly 4 1/2 lengths behind Beeline. He was followed across the wire, in order, by Ship to Shore, Sir Flash, and Starship Mocha.

Beeline, a son of Bee Jersey trained by Riley Mott, completed the distance in 1:10.59 seconds over a fast track and returned $3.60.

“He’s a really game horse, I’m really impressed by him,” said Zayas, who has been aboard Beeline for both career wins. “It takes a lot, it’s really one of the toughest races, when they are so young running against horses who have won multiple times and in a stakes. It looked like he was going to quit for a second but I kept riding and he kept digging and finding more. He felt the horse alongside him on the turn and kept fighting so I took him out [wide] near the end so he could feel that other horse [Improptude] too, and once he did he kept digging in again.”

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