Double Tuff worth opposing in William Henry Harrison Stakes
Double Tuff will be extremely tough to beat in the $75,000 William Henry Harrison Stakes on Wednesday at Indiana Grand if he’s the same horse in 2021 he was in 2020. But the gelding is an 8-year-old whose overall performance level trended down before a sudden spike last fall, and at 6-5 on the track’s morning line, he invites players to oppose him in this six-furlong dash for Indiana-sired older horses.
An eight-time winner at Indiana Grand, Double Tuff was claimed for $25,000 in November 2019 by trainer Kim Hammond and owners Jerry Carden and Willowbrook Stables, but didn’t start for his new connections until the following September. And Double Tuff returned with a vengeance. He won the 2020 Harrison (traditionally held in the fall until this year’s shift) in his comeback start, then earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure romping in the Brickyard Stakes. Double Tuff subsequently won an Indiana Grand allowance before calling it a campaign. He shows four published works for this latest comeback and faces some legitimate opposition.
Unbridled Beast excelled in route races last year at age 3, winning a pair of stakes, but a four-race winning streak began with a win over Wednesday’s six-furlong trip, and at age 4, Unbridled Beast clearly has more upside than a gelding twice his age. Stop Hammertime, Thatswhatithought, Redskiesatnight, and Max Express all rate some level of consideration, and with so many plausible contenders, the short price on the favorite looks even worse.
The Harrison comes up as race 8 on a card starting at 2:25 p.m. Eastern, with the Harrison’s sister race, the $75,000 Shelby County, carded as race 6. This six-furlong race for older fillies and mares looks wide open and the two shortest prices on the line, Expect Indy and Hungarian Princess, are both worth opposing.
Eight-year-old Expect Indy finished a decent third when this race was contested last September, but showed more last season routing than sprinting and hasn’t raced since January. Hungarian Princess is a three-time stakes winner and exits an easy victory May 19 in the Swifty Sired Stakes, but never has faced older horses and tackles meaningfully better competition Wednesday than she’s ever met. She carries 120 pounds and actually gives weight to some of her older rivals.
Pretty Assets won the 2020 Shelby County and is listed at 10-1 on the line because of modest performances in two starts this season. She’s eligible for a forward move here, while proven Indiana-bred stakes mare Fireball Baby has worked fast for her first race since November and could be a fair price.