Hey Mike resumes promising career in turf allowance

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hey Mike showed himself a precocious sort by winning his career debut in the spring at Keeneland. The 2-year-old colt then went on to finish second in back-to-back stakes as the favorite before getting some time off.

“He had a little throat procedure done,” said Mike Maker, who trains Hey Mike for Michael Hui. “We gave him plenty of time before we brought him back, and now he’s ready again.”

Hey Mike is part of an oversubscribed field of 2-year-olds entered in the lone allowance on the Thursday card at Churchill Downs. With Julien Leparoux riding from post 3, he appears to be the one to beat in a $60,000 race scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Maker said with a laugh that Hey Mike is so named “because that’s what the owner’s wife screams when she’s mad at him,” but the impressive start to the colt’s career is no joking matter. After rallying to defeat next-out winner Red Lodge at first asking April 20, he ran second to Silvertoni in the Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill in May and second to Silver Mission in the Tremont at Belmont in June.

“Now, it’s a matter of whether some of these other 2-year-olds have caught up to him,” Maker said. “He’s got a grass pedigree, so we wanted to give that a try.”

South Sea, the beaten favorite in the recent Spendthrift Stallion, is among the chief threats to Hey Mike in the ninth of 10 Thursday races. Other logical contenders include Sea Rover, Mr Cub, Mas Mischief, and Real Creel.

First post Thursday is 1 p.m. Eastern. The rollover jackpot in the 20-cent Single 6 (races 5-10) figured to be about $75,000, assuming it went unswept Wednesday for the 12th straight card.

KEY CONTENDERS

Hey Mike, by Cape Blanco

Last 3 Beyers: 57-66-NA

◗ His sire is a son of the great Galileo, one of the premier grass sires in the world, and his five reported workouts since early October at the nearby Trackside training center figure to have this colt sitting on ready again.

South Sea, by Into Mischief

Last 3 Beyers: 52-71-61

◗ Hammered down to 2-1 in the Spendthrift on opening day of the fall meet, this Juddmonte Farms homebred ran sixth and now stands to improve here given a measure of class relief.

Sea Rover, by English Channel

Last 3 Beyers: 67-74-58

◗ Grass-bred on the top and bottom (his dam is by More Than Ready), this colt most recently was third on the Keeneland turf for this same never-won-two condition.

Mr Cub, by Artie Schiller

Beyers: 69-42

◗ Just as the Chicago Cubs were amid their successful playoff run last month, this colt pulled a 21-1 upset on the Keeneland turf for the Turf Stable of Rusty Jones and partners.