Hogy forgoes Dubai for Kentucky

The 8-year-old gelding Hogy ran so well in winning the $50,000 Colonel Power Stakes on Feb. 25 at Fair Grounds that he was invited to the $1 million Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup undercard.

But while it’s always nice to be invited to the party, owner William Stiritz and his private trainer, Scott Becker, respectfully declined that invitation, Becker said Thursday. Hogy runs instead in the $200,000 Shakertown Stakes on April 8 at Keeneland.

“I just shipped him out of Fair Grounds yesterday and back to Fairmount to get ready for Keeneland,” said Becker, whose base camp is at Fairmount Park in southern Illinois, a racetrack that Stiritz owns. “They called up yesterday with the invitation to Dubai, but it’s not the right thing for us to do with the horse.”

Hogy raced three springs ago in the Shakertown, closing from 10th to finish fourth. Last fall at Keeneland, he rallied from far back to finish second by a half-length in the Woodford Stakes. Hogy has won 16 of his 41 starts, not a lot of races for a horse his age, and he appears to be as good right now as he ever has been. Racing on a lightning-fast course, he set a 5 1/2-furlong course record in the Colonel Power while earning a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

“We’ve kind of lightly raced him, always took care of him,” said Becker. “He’s had some foot issues, but he’s doing good again. He didn’t do well at Oaklawn last winter, and he’s one reason we went to Fair Grounds this year.”

Becker and Stiritz, like Hogy, have had a good winter during their first Fair Grounds meet. Through Thursday’s racing, Becker had 11 wins from 57 starters, the 10th-most wins among trainers.

“Everything has gone pretty smooth there,” Becker said. “The herpes deal cut us down a little bit. I had some more horses to ship and ended up not shipping them because of that, but overall, things have gone well. The plan as of now would be to go back.”

Last Sunday, the Becker-trained 3-year-old Stand and Cheer set the pace in a first-level dirt-route allowance and held stoutly for second behind Resiliency. Stand and Cheer won his maiden by more than 10 lengths last fall at Hawthorne, and Becker said he is a candidate for the Illinois Derby next month at Hawthorne, though plans call for an interim start in a Keeneland allowance race.