Here Mi Song breaks through in Commonwealth

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Here Mi Song hit a high note on Saturday at Keeneland, edging Hoist the Gold by a neck for his first stakes victory in the Grade 3, $300,000 Commonwealth Stakes.

Here Mi Song ($25.60), a 5-year-old son of Cross Traffic, continued to deliver milestones for his owner-breeder Nathan Hayden and his trainer Billy Stinson, Jr., both of Henderson, Ky. Here Mi Song was the first horse bred by Hayden, and became his first winner when he broke his maiden at Keeneland in the fall of 2021. He is the first stakes winner for both owner and trainer.

"This horse has taken me more places than I ever dreamed," Hayden said. "It's so surreal right now. Words can't even possibly describe what I'm feeling."

Here Mi Song had been knocking at the door of a stakes victory. The gelding was third in the Holiday Cheer Stakes and second in the Big Daddy Stakes in early 2022 at Turfway Park. He came in to the Commonwealth off three straight stakes outings on the Tapeta during the recently concluded Turfway season, with his best effort a second in the Forego Stakes in February. He was sixth in this year's renewal of the Big Daddy on March 11 in his most recent outing.

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"Just unbelievable," Stinson said. "Just a super-nice horse. He tries every time. We knew we'd get there. We didn't know [it would be] today, but we knew we'd get there."

In the seven-furlong Commonwealth, Here Mi Song and jockey Alex Achard broke from post 9 in the field of 10 and got a clean trip throughout. The duo worked their way to fourth at the three-furlong pole, two lengths back of favored Run Classic as she showed the way through the opening half of 46.50 seconds. Here Mi Song kicked on willingly into the stretch and forged his way into the lead outside of a tenacious Hoist the Gold, who had been stalking the pace. Those two separated themselves from the rest to the wire, with Here Mi Song prevailing.

The final time for the seven furlongs on a main track rated fast was 1:23.42.

After the top two, it was 2 1/4 lengths to Get Her Number, who bumped at the start with Nakatomi and was away slowly. She made up ground late to nose out Nakatomi for third. Nakatomi, the second choice, raced fairly evenly throughout while incurring his first loss at Keeneland.

After Nakatomi came Run Classic, Pro Oxidant, Heart Rhythm, Spankster, Long Range Toddy, and Legionnaire.

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