Hogy may travel to New York for Jaipur Invitational

At age 8, Hogy, improbably, appears to be in the best form of his life. But his connections know Hogy can’t stay on top forever, and while the gelding still is going so well, they are contemplating sending him to New York next month for the $300,000 Jaipur Invitational on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
“Right now, I got a couple options with him: either go to Canterbury or over to Belmont,” said Scott Becker, who trains Hogy for William Stiritz. “We’d kind of like to do some of this bigger stuff before he gets too old.”
Hogy has made his last eight starts at seven different tracks, compiling a record of 2-4-2. He most recently finished third by a half-length in the Grade 2 Shakertown at Keeneland and in his prior start had comfortably handled Green Mask, the sharp two-length winner of the May 5 Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs.
Since his start at Keeneland, Hogy had been stabled with Becker’s string at Fairmount Park, but Hogy was shipped last week to Arlington. Becker said Hogy was scheduled to have a timed workout in the coming days, after which a decision on his next start would be made.
The race at Canterbury is the $50,000 Honor the Hero over five furlongs. The Jaipur, at six furlongs, is a better fit for Hogy in terms of distance in addition to offering six times the prize money. Moreover, Stiritz and Becker have another horse, Shogood, who could start in the Honor the Hero in Hogy’s stead. A win in the Jaipur also would push Hogy’s career earnings past the $1 million mark. His bankroll now stands at $868,727.
◗ A first-level allowance race carded for about 1 1/16 miles on grass is the nominal feature on Friday’s card. It drew 10 entrants and has Nate the Natural as its most likely winner. Nate the Natural is just 2 for 20, but he is in good form and generally has faced stronger competition than his main Friday rivals.