Hard Not to Love, gaining professionalism, points to Angels Flight

ARCADIA, Calif. – Months ago, Hard Not to Love was so difficult to handle that at times she had to be walked from the racetrack to the barn after exercise.

A patient approach to the daily racetrack routine allowed Hard Not to Love to settle into her surroundings.

“We needed to take it in baby steps,” trainer John Shirreffs recalled on Sunday morning.

Shirreffs’s methods are working. On Saturday at Santa Anita, Hard Not to Love won for the second time in as many starts in an allowance race with a $40,000 claiming option for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Shirreffs is looking forward to Hard Not to Love’s next start in the $75,000 Angels Flight Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on May 4.

“She’s overcome a lot,” he said Sunday. “She’s a nice filly. Yesterday was a huge step up for her.”

Shirreffs knew Hard Not to Love needed extra attention when she arrived at his stable last year. The filly had lost an eye in a paddock accident at a farm early in 2018, long before she was sent to California, Shirreffs said. The process of making Hard Not to Love more comfortable with daily exercise and life at the track took time.

“She needed the confidence,” Shirreffs said. “In the beginning, she would freeze up, and the rider would jump off of her and lead her off the track.

“She had to adjust to her surroundings. She’s a country girl who moved to the big city.”

Hard Not to Love won her debut in a maiden special weight race at six furlongs on Feb. 16, overcoming a slow start before winning by three lengths. In Saturday’s race, Hard Not to Love was within a length of the lead on the backstretch, had a three-length advantage in the stretch and won by a half-length over Lady Ninja even though she was not urged in the final strides by jockey Tiago Pereira.

Shirreffs said he saw a filly with a more patient style than she showed in her first race.

“I was happy with the way she relaxed,” Shirreffs said. “For a long time, she tried to run through the bridle. She moved nicely to the lead.”

Owned by the partnership of Mercedes Stable, West Point Thoroughbred, Scott Dilworth, Dottie Ingordo, David Ingordo and Steve Mooney, Hard Not to Love was purchased for $400,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale.

Bred in Ontario, Hard Not to Love is by Hard Spun and out of Loving Vindication. Hard Not to Love is a half-sister to Wonder Gadot, the winner of the 2018 Queen’s Plate Stakes against males at Woodbine and a finalist for 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year. The winner will be announced Thursday.

The pedigree gives Shirreffs the expectation that Hard Not to Love will thrive around two turns, though the races are likely to be in Southern California for the foreseeable future.

“She has to run out of her stall,” he said. “She needs the stability and being in a place she understands.

“The big thing is, what can she do going two turns? She’s learning to be more comfortable.”