Here Mi Song outlasts O Besos in Jeff Hall Memorial

Here Mi Song returned to the races with a strong effort on Saturday afternoon at Ellis Park, holding firm through the lane for a neck victory over the comebacking O Besos in the $125,000 Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes for older sprinters.

It was a hometown victory for Here Mi Song ($5.90), who races as a homebred for Nathan Hayden and who is trained by Billy Stinson Jr., both of Henderson, Ky.

The gray Grade 3 winner was most recently seen in the afternoon in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard, when he landed the inside post and was this hustled to the lead, in contrast to his usual running style. After finishing a creditable fourth, he was vanned off; X-rays taken both that day and a month later as a precaution were negative, and Stinson speculated the gelding was leg-weary.

In the Hall Memorial, Here Mi Song and Alex Achard drew a far more advantageous outside post, and got a dream trip en route to the win. The gelding ran freely down the backstretch and assumed the lead around the turn, kicking clear to lead by 1 1/2 lengths coming to the quarter pile.

O Besos, making his first start since finishing a creditable fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last November, was third at that point, and launched a stanch rally through the stretch. Here Mi Song grimly held him at bay for the neck win, stopping the clock in 1:16.06 for the six furlongs.

After the top two, it was 2 1/2 lengths back to Tut’s Revenge in third, followed by Chasing Time, Solidify, and Go West.

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