Hard Not to Like eyes Jenny Wiley repeat for new connections
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When the Jenny Wiley was run over the Keeneland turf last spring, the proverbial blanket could have covered the first five finishers. Less than a length separated them as they lined up across the wire.
No one would be surprised if something similar occurred Saturday, when a well-matched field of older fillies and mares will clash in the 27th running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Jenny Wiley.
Hard Not to Like, winner of that cavalry charge last year when trained by Michael Matz, is back at Keeneland after being sold at auction here in November for $1.5 million. The 6-year-old gray mare will be among the core of favorites in this 1 1/16-mile race when making her second start for Christophe Clement, with Irad Ortiz Jr. in from New York to pick up the mount.
Ball Dancing, second in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup here last fall and more recently second in her 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs five weeks ago, ranks among the top challengers.
“We made this an early season target after giving her a little break after the Queen Elizabeth,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She maybe needed her last race, but I do think she came out of it better for it.”
Filimbi, a multiple stakes winner for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms, is another solid threat. The balance of the lineup is Personal Diary, Starstruck, Samiam, and Eden Prairie.
Emotional Kitten will scratch after running instead in an allowance race here Thursday, leaving no more than seven starters.
The Jenny Wiley, named for a fabled pioneer who died in 1831, is carded as the ninth of 11 Saturday races (post, 4:46 p.m. Eastern). This is the last of five Grade 1 races at this 15-day meet.
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KEY CONTENDERS
Hard Not to Like (Last 3 Beyers: 89-94-94)
◗ After being sold, she has had one race and 14 (count ’em) workouts at Payson Park since early December, so fitness should not be an issue. She finished first in her lone start, the Grade 3 Endeavour on Jan. 31 at Tampa Bay, only to be disqualified to second for interference in deep stretch.
◗ Clement, not surprisingly, shows above-average percentages in all the categories that apply here, including 61- to 180-day layoffs (24 percent in 2014-15).
Ball Dancing (Last 3 Beyers: 95-90-92)
◗ Owned in partnership by prominent Kentucky breeder Will Farish, this Exchange Rate filly has been sharp in all three of her starts since returning to the United States from France, where she was group-placed.
◗ Brown, an Eclipse Award finalist for the first time last year, gives the mount on this filly for the first time to Javier Castellano, the two-time reigning Eclipse-winning jockey.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Ball Dancing. Trainer Chad Brown is 33-1-13-5 with a $0.44 ROI over the past two years in turf route graded stakes in the second start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Filimbi (Last 3 Beyers: 87-99-99)
◗ This gray mare was a no-threat fifth behind Stephanie’s Kitten and Ball Dancing when returning to action last month in the Hillsborough, but she was compromised by a poor start and stands to improve off the needed outing for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Filimbi. Trainer Bill Mott is 57-5-3-11 with a $1.35 ROI over the past five years in turf route graded stakes in the second start following a layoff (16-1-0-1, $0.25 ROI in Grade 1 stakes). Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Personal Diary. Ran fourth last out in the Mrs Revere at Churchill, which has had runners go 8-4-1-0 in their next starts, including three stakes wins. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan