Gorham, Perez upset Nobody Listens Handicap with Win Me Over

Jockey Eduardo “Eddie” Perez, born some 58 1/2 years ago in Mexico City, guided Win Me Over to victory in the $100,000 Nobody Listens Handicap on Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.

Perez, who stands four feet 11 inches tall and has American stats dating to 1991, broke Win Me Over from post 12, stalked the pace set by Butch’s Best, took the lead at about the eighth pole without his mount switching leads, and after Win Me Over finally switched in the last 50 yards ran out a comfortable 3 1/4-length winner.

Once stakes-placed in Indiana-bred competition, Win Me Over notched his first stakes win in the Nobody Listens, a six-furlong race restricted to Indiana-breds. The 4-year-old gelding, by Tamarkuz out of Hobe Wins, by Exchange Rate, races for Marion Gorham and is trained by Robert Gorham.

Gorham has remained a steady supporter of the aging Perez, a longtime veteran of the Chicago circuit who won just his ninth race of 2024, six of them for Gorham.

Butch’s Best, the 7-2 second choice, held second by a half-length over 3-1 favorite Mr Chaos, the 125-pound highweight. Win Me Over ($27.80) carried 123 pounds and was timed in 1:10.84 over a sloppy, sealed dirt track.

Perez’s 1992 jockey trading card lists his favorite flavor of ice cream as strawberry. Perez put a cherry atop his three Wednesday mounts, scoring just his second stakes win since 2021.

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One race earlier jockey Alex Achard, a mere 32, piloted Diamond Solitaire to a three-quarters of a length win in the $100,000 Checkered Flag Handicap, the sister race of the Nobody Listens.

Six-year-old Diamond Solitaire ($22.80) has been reborn this season as a closing sprinter. After sprinting in her first four career races, the mare made 25 of her next 26 starts around two turns, ending her 2023 campaign in a 1 1/4-mile contest. Apparently, she wanted to do something different.

Diamond Solitaire finished a closing third making her 2024 debut May 6 in an Indiana-bred sprint allowance, an encouraging enough performance that a month later her connections tried the Indiana-sired Shelby County, a six-furlong race she won by 1 3/4 lengths.

Wednesday, Achard had Diamond Solitaire positioned in eighth place during the early and middle stages of the six-furlong Checkered Flag before his mount kicked into gear midway around the far turn, running her final quarter-mile in a robust 24.87, about a second faster than any of her nine rivals.

Pace-pressing E’s Magic had taken the lead in upper stretch and held an advantage of more than two lengths with a furlong to run, but Diamond Solitaire came and got her in the final 50 yards. E’s Magic had 4 1/2 lengths on third-place Ekati Flatter, with 4/5 favorite and 125-pound co-highweight Carimba fourth.

Diamond Solitaire also toted 125 pounds while running six furlongs over the sloppy, sealed surface in 1:11.26. She won for the seventh time in 33 outings and raised her bankroll well over $400,000.

Trained by Ethan West, Diamond Solitaire was bred by her owners, the Diamond Solitaire partnership, and is a daughter of Majestic Harbor and the Sightseeking mare Diamond Seeker.

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