Hay Little Bit takes Merrillville Stakes under well-timed ride

Andres Ulloa stood up in the saddle and pumped his right fist as he passed the finish of the $105,000 Merrillville Stakes on Wednesday at Indiana Grand – and for good reason.

Ulloa, a 23-year-old native of Chile in his second year of riding in North America, had just won his first stakes race here. And he had won it with an excellent ride on Hay Little Bit.

Ulloa broke Hay Little Bit from post 11 but steered his filly toward the rail shortly after the start. At the half-mile pole, the race’s lone turn coming hard, Ulloa made his choice to hug the fence even tighter. Hay Little Bit came into the homestretch, a half-mile in a sizzling 44.52 seconds collapsing the front-runners, with momentum. Ulloa saw a jockey just in front of him peel off the rail for an outside move and urged his mount through the vacant space. He steered Hay Little Bit outside a tiring Ever Wonder, dove back to the rail, and came inside Whistle Stop to score by three-quarters of a length.

Fist pump, indeed.

Hay Little Bit ran six furlongs in 1:09.87 and paid $28.20 to win. Whistle Stop, who probably moved too early into the taxing pace, ran well to finish second at 12-1, coming home 1 1/4 lengths clear of third-place Sweet N Wicked, the only horse near the pace anywhere near the front at the finish.

Barbara McBride trains Hay Little Bit, a 6-year-old daughter of Article of Faith and Shadow Vale, by Beautiful Indy, for Robert Hyden. Second in the 2017 Merrillville, which is restricted to Indiana-bred fillies and mares, Hay Little Bit was somewhat slow to come around this season – but fast to the finish Wednesday under her first-time stakes-winning jockey.

Revenant One wins stakes debut

Revenant One looked gassed at the finish of the $104,300 Brickyard Stakes, but he had done enough early in the race to win his stakes debut.

Who knows how fast Revenant One ran at any point in the race since Indiana Grand’s timer malfunctioned, leaving the official race chart void of fractional and final times. But he appeared to be rolling right along outside Mr Manning, putting his pace rival away and opening a 2 1/2-length lead with a quarter-mile left to run. Revenant One, who was racing for the first time since June 29, couldn’t widen his lead in midstretch and appeared to get rubber-legged the final half-furlong, but the wire came before the pack could catch him.

Operation Stevie, a distant last halfway through, rallied between horses to get second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner and a neck in front of Mr Manning. Revenant One, who had Ty Kennedy aboard for trainer Mike Tomlinson and owner Jody Mihalic, paid $3.40 to win as the odds-on favorite.

Revenant One is a 5-year-old gelding by Macho Uno out of Itsmylife, by Storm Cat. He didn’t race until fall of his 4-year-old season but has proven to be a high-level sprinter by Indiana-bred standards, notching his fifth win from six starts while making his stakes debut Wednesday.

Discreet Beauty, Ace of Aces capture 2-year-old stakes

Discreet Beauty won the $104,600 City of Anderson Stakes for Indiana-bred 2-year-old fillies and Ace of Aces the $105,600 Hillsdale Stakes for Indiana-bred 2-year-olds on the Wednesday card.

Discreet Beauty sat second outside Premium Passion for the first quarter-mile of the City of Anderson but took over on the far turn and never looked back. She held well through a 45-second half-mile under Marcelino Pedroza and came home three lengths better than 24-1 shot Can’t Crosstraffic. Favored Unbridled Brooke finished another head back in third.

Discreet Beauty ($8.60) ran her record to two wins from two starts for owner-breeder Bruce Murphy and trainer Genaro Garcia. The filly is a daughter of Discreetly Mine and Bella Durmiente, by Pico Central.

Ace of Aces got a similar trip in the Hillsdale, turning back a bid at the quarter-pole from favored A Little Irradic, who got a perfect trip, and drawing clear to win by four lengths over that foe. For the second time on the Wednesday card the electronic timing system malfunctioned, and no final time was recorded for the Hillsdale. Gio Pantera, 11th of 12 in the early going, rallied decently for third but fell three lengths short of the runner-up.

Ace of Aces ($12) is trained by Bernie Flint for his breeders, Hillerich Racing and L. T. B. Inc. The colt, a son of Unbridled Express and Miss Carmelite, by Mutakddim, won a maiden race Aug. 15 after a second-place debut finish in July.