Hard to Justify gives Brown ninth Miss Grillo win
?q=100)
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Hard to Justify won her first race, overcoming a difficult trip. Wednesday, she won her second race, with a much smoother run.
Hard to Justify, sitting an up-close second under Flavien Prat, spurted away from longshot Whimsically in upper stretch and held off a late-running Life’s an Audible to win Wednesday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes by a half-length at Aqueduct.
It was one length back to 59-1 shot Whimsically, who finished 2 3/4 lengths in front of favored Gala Brand.
The victory was the ninth in the Miss Grillo for trainer Chad Brown, the first one coming with Maram in 2008. Four of the previous eight winners -- Maram, Lady Eli (2014), New Money Honey (2016), and Newspaperofrecord (2018) – came back to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
By virtue of her victory in the Miss Grillo, Hard to Justify earned a fees-paid berth into this year’s $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.
The Miss Grillo was originally scheduled for Sunday, but weekend rains prompted the New York Racing Association to move Saturday’s card to Sunday and Sunday’s card to Wednesday.
In her debut, at Saratoga, Hard to Justify got steadied down the backside and had to rally wide in the stretch to get up by a head. Wednesday, breaking from the inside post, Prat got Hard to Justify in a stalking second, within 1 1/2 lengths of the pace-setting Camila T, who ran a quarter in 23.93 seconds, a half-mile in 50.00, and six furlongs in 1:14.37 over turf labeled firm.
Approaching the top of the stretch, Hard to Justify overtook Camila T but had Whimsically, under Junior Alvarado, to the outside. Prat got down to serious riding, and was able to put away Whimsically and hold off Life’s an Audible.
“Turning for home, as soon as that horse [Whimsically] came alongside of me, she really engaged and switched gears and from there she got the job done,” Prat said.
Hard to Justify, a daughter of Justify owned by Allen Wise, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.92 and returned $16.60 to win.
In addition to it being Brown’s ninth Miss Grillo win, it was his third consecutive winner on Wednesday’s card.
In the Miss Grillo, Life’s an Audible was stretching out to 1 1/16 miles off a maiden victory sprinting. Life’s an Audible raced in third down the backside along the inside, then switched to the outside and gradually was making up ground in the lane.
“Slow pace killed her,” Ortiz said. “The winner broke better than me, got better position than me, so I just followed [Hard to Justify]. They went a little slow for me, but perfect trip. I was running late, so nice effort.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.