Harking must beat On Deck to defend title in Jeff and Jack Coady Sr. Stakes
PHOENIX – Harking, a 6-year-old mare, comes into her title defense in the $60,000 Jeff and Jack Coady Sr. at Turf Paradise on Saturday in sharp form. That said, there’s a significant hurdle in the form of Southern California raider On Deck as a field of nine fillies and mares goes six furlongs.
The Coady goes as race 7 on an eight-race program. First post is 12:20 p.m.
Harking, a daughter of Dominus owned by Edward Hindman and trained by Bennie Woolley Jr., has won seven of her 16 starts, including this race on Jan. 5. After some decent work in the spring, she was laid off and returned after almost three months to easily beat allowance foes on Sept. 3 at Albuquerque. She hasn’t run since, but her win last year came off a similar layoff.
On Deck, a 5-year-old mare owned and trained by Jonathan Wong, whipped allowance foes on Sept. 18 at Los Alamitos and was then second to Grade 1 winner Ce Ce (who goes in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint) in the Grade 3 Chillingworth on Oct. 3 at Santa Anita. While she was no match for Ce Ce, she finished ahead of Argentine Grade 1 winner Scotish Star.
Other contenders in the Jeff and Jack Coady Sr. include Dance Shoes, winner of five of her last six, all at Century Mile; Arizona Sun, a multiple stakes winner on this track; and Senoradiablo, another multiple stakes winner here.