Hidden Scroll romps, earns a 102 Beyer Speed Figure

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The only anxious part of the enigmatic Hidden Scroll making his 4-year-old debut Sunday at Gulfstream came right before it, and not during it.

The Juddmonte Farms homebred acted up behind the starting gate for a few scary moments before allowing himself to be loaded without further incident into post 5 for the $44,000 first-level allowance at six furlongs. He proceeded to break sharply, put away one overmatched rival, then strolled to a 12 1/2-length romp, with jockey John Velazquez barely moving a muscle.

Hidden Scroll paid $2.40 as a heavy favorite in a field of seven after finishing in a swift 1:09.25 over a fast track. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 102.

“He was a little tense getting to the gate,” Velazquez said afterward. “Once he got to the gate, we had a couple horses to load in there. He got to relax in the gate and that was it. He broke well, I put my hands down and just let him get his own stride, and by the half-mile pole he was in the long stride, rolling.”

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Hidden Scroll, trained by Bill Mott, has been under a close watch throughout the racing industry since earning a 104 Beyer Speed Figure in winning his career debut by 14 lengths on the Pegasus World Cup undercard here in January 2019. The Hard Spun colt then lost his next three starts, all as the favorite, including the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, and had not raced since finishing third at odds-on in an allowance on the Kentucky Derby undercard last May.

Hidden Scroll was all set to return here Jan. 17 in a similar allowance sprint, but he acted up in the starting gate just moments before the start and had to be scratched when suffering little more than bumps and scrapes.

With Mott on his way back Sunday from Saudi Arabia, his longtime assistant Kenny McCarthy was on hand to oversee the handling of Hidden Scroll.

“Just getting in the gate can be a problem,” said a smiling McCarthy, “or staying in the gate, sometimes.”

Noon Time Gem finished a distant second in this race when narrowly holding off Kingsville. A stewards’ inquiry was conducted into the start because Stealth hesitated badly, breaking far behind the others, but no change in the official order was made.