Hard Not to Like sets course record winning Diana

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - John Velazquez knew the pace would be hot. It was. He figured the horses setting that pace would get tired and come back to him. They didn’t.

So in the final three-sixteenths of a mile, Velazquez had to get Hard Not to Like to accelerate and the 6-year-old mare did just that, lengthening her stride and rallying to nail Tepin on the wire by a nose to win the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana Stakes at Saratoga.

Tepin, who under Julien Leparoux had chased that hot pace from third, finished second by neck over the pacesetting Kitten’s Queen. It was two lengths back to My Miss Sophia, who was followed in order, by Stephanie’s Kitten, Lady Lara, and Waltzing Matilda.

Hard Not to Like set a Saratoga Mellon Turf Course record in the process, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:45.22, eclipsing the mark of Shakis (1:45.33) set in 2007.

Hard Not to Like, a daughter of Hard Spun, is now 8 for 20 and her career earnings blossomed to $1,261,671. She was purchased last November out of the Keeneland sale for $1.5 million by Speedway Stables.

The win was the third on the card for Velazquez, who also took the Grade 2 Sanford on Uncle Vinny, who was put up to first by the stewards, who disqualified Magna Light from first to third.

Velazquez had been the regular rider of Stephanie’s Kitten, but was taken off that horse by owner Ken Ramsey and trainer Chad Brown following her fourth-place finish in the New York Stakes.

That day, Kitten’s Queen was entered in the race as a pacemaker and didn’t do her job under Eric Cancel and Stephanie’s Kitten, under Velazquez, couldn’t overcome it.

Saturday, Kitten’s Queen, under new rider Jose Ortiz, did her job, running six furlongs in 1:10.15 while being chased My Miss Sophia and Tepin.

Velazquez had Hard Not to Like in fourth, about 12 lengths off the pace. He was feeling good.

“I did not know [Tepin] was going to be up there. I was thrilled,” Velazquez said. I said, ‘Let those three go and eventually they’ll come back to me.’ ”

But in the stretch, that trio kept going, with Tepin, forging past Kitten’s Queen late. Meanwhile, Velazquez was getting into Hard Not to Like, who closed down the middle of the track to just get up.

“I was surprised they kept running,” Velazquez said. “I was like ‘Holy crap, I almost screwed up waiting too long, thinking they were going to come back to me.’ My horse ran a huge race, I got to tell you that. I think I waited too long. I had to ride a little too hard to get there.”

Hard Not to Like returned $14.40 as fourth choice.

Christophe Clement, the trainer of Hard Not to Like, credited both his horse and rider.

“If you look at the fractions they didn’t go too fast and quit. They actually went fast all the way to the end,” said Clement, who won his third Diana. “She had a tremendous turn of foot to get to them. Johnny rode a superb race because of the pace of the race.”

Tepin, who was coming off a Grade 1 win in the Just a Game, had a three-racing streak snapped. But, she proved she isn’t just a miler.

“That was sad,” Mark Casse, the trainer of Tepin said. “All I can say is she can run a mile and an eighth. She relaxed. we had no excuse. We just got beat by a better filly today.”

Brown said he thought Irad Ortiz Jr. had Stephanie’s Kitten too far back in the race. She was beaten three lengths.

“She was really far back, what can I say?” Brown said. “She certainly had a good pace to run at. I really don’t have an excuse. Hard Not to Like was back there with her and outkicked her. Hats off to them.”

For the second straight race, Kitten’s Queen finished ahead of Stephanie’s Kitten.

“The news is, she won’t be a rabbit next time,” Ramsey said.