Here Mi Song faces strong group in Hall Memorial repeat bid

Kentucky-based trainer Billy Stinson, operating a small stable since 2007, has won two stakes races during his career. Both came in 2023, both with the gelding Here Mi Song, one of them the Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes at Ellis Park. Sunday, Here Mi Song tries for two Halls in a row, breaking from the rail while facing six foes in this $125,000 dirt race over 6 1/2 furlongs.

No easy task, this repeat bid. Happy Is a Choice ran into the crack sprinter Skelly finishing third in the Count Fleet, his stakes debut, and returned with a sharp third-level sprint allowance win at Churchill Downs. Second in that race with a spot of trouble was Scotland, while Champlin had to be scratched from that contest just a few minutes before participating.

“He kicked the rail there at Churchill in the walking ring, just got a little stinger or something,” said Champlin’s trainer, Greg Foley. “He was 3-5 in there. I wanted to puke on the ground.”

Here Mi Song, a 6-year-old by Cross Traffic out of the Dehere mare Mi Viera, was bred and is owned by Nathan Hayden. Hayden has 27 starts as an owner, and Here Mi Song has made 25 of them, winning the Grade 3 Commonwealth at Keeneland three months before his Hall score. Closing on $900,000 in earnings, Here Mi Song produced a fine second behind Gun Pilot in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on May 4, and his fourth a month later in the Aristides came at a six-furlong distance short of his best.

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His rail draw Sunday does Here Mi Song no favors, and while beating the Foley-trained O Besos by a neck in the 2023 renewal of the Hall, Here Mi Song pulled a cozy stalking trip after breaking from the outside post in a six-runner field.

This time around it’s Champlin with the favorable outside draw. Four-year-old Champlin, by Ransom the Moon, didn’t debut until January but made a splash when he did, capturing a Fair Grounds maiden sprint by five lengths with a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. He won second out in slightly less flashy fashion, faded off a strong pace finishing fifth at Keeneland in April, then cleared his second allowance condition with aplomb May 16 at Churchill, exceeding his debut showing. Champlin hasn’t raced beyond six furlongs. Foley believes the added distance helps.

“The six and half isn’t going to bother him. He’s a fast horse, at three-quarters or whatever. He’ll sit off the pace, doesn’t have to be on the lead,” Foley said Thursday from Churchill. “We sent him over there today to school him and get used to things a little bit.”

Four-year-old Happy Is a Choice has won 3 of 5 starts since returning in January from a 13-month layoff, gelded last November before his return.

“He’s been such a big and fast horse since he was a 2-year-old, and his size kind of held him back a little bit,” trainer John Ortiz said. “Once we gelded him, he really, really flourished. It balanced out his body and helped him a lot.”

Happy Is a Choice got away slowly in his comeback race, won two straight, and chased Oaklawn freak Skelly in the Count Fleet, settling for an encouraging third. Ortiz gave his charge extra time, and Happy Is a Choice rewarded him with a career-best, winning that Churchill sprint allowance. After sitting just off the pace, Happy Is a Choice blitzed his final furlong in 11.82 seconds to win going away, and Ortiz believes the added half-furlong Sunday helps his horse.

Call Me Fast and Gulfstream Way aren’t without a chance. Here Mi Song – we already know he’s fast enough for the Jeff Hall Memorial.

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