Hendy Woods pulls away from field in One Dreamer Stakes

The betting public viewed the $400,000 One Dreamer Stakes on Thursday at Kentucky Downs as a competitive affair. Hendy Woods had other ideas.

Second choice in the win pool, a few thousand dollars behind Dominga, Hendy Woods was all alone at the finish of the One Dreamer, drawing away through the final furlong to post a one-sided victory. She won by about 4 1/4 lengths over Sweet Melania, who disputed the pace from the start and held gamely for second. Alta’s Award won a show photo over Pass the Plate, while Dominga had no late spark, checking in fifth.

Hendy Woods ($6.60) raced in hand, in the bridle, and poised for real action from the start under Tyler Gaffalione, who positioned her in a stalking position racing from fourth place into and around the long Kentucky Downs far turn. Gaffalione, cognizant of the long homestretch in front of him, waited to pull the trigger until he’d turned the corner and headed to the three-sixteenths pole, and his mount proved a patient partner, too. Hendy Woods had the lead at the eighth pole and after negotiating the course’s final dogleg headed to the wire, she powered through the uphill finish, all the while drawing away from the rest of the field.

The One Dreamer, restricted to horses who hadn’t won a sweepstakes during 2021, was contested over one mile and 70 yards, a distance that produces very fast times at Kentucky Downs. Off splits of 22.74 seconds, 45.98, and 1:10.28, Hendy Woods was clocked in 1:38.33.

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Trainer Mark Casse and his staff have brought 4-year-old Hendy Woods along very nicely for owner Stonestreet Stable. A stakes winner and graded stakes-placed last year at age 3, Hendy Woods has incrementally upped her game through her 4-year-old campaign, winning Thursday for the fifth time in 10 career starts. A homebred, Hendy Woods is by Uncle Mo out of the Grade 3 winner Separate Forest, by Forestry. She was cataloged at a 2018 yearling auction but failed to meet a $95,000 reserve, and with Thursday’s win now has earned more than $500,000.