Honey I'm Good leads throughout in mud to take the Harmony Lodge Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. - Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen didn’t get to win more than 8,500 races without a little help. Friday, Asmussen gave credit where it was due after Honey I’m Good went gate to wire to win the $80,000 Harmony Lodge Stakes at Belmont Park.

Not among the original nominees for the six-furlong race for female sprinters, Honey I’m Good was supplemented to the race for $1,000 at the suggestion of Asmussen’s longtime New York assistant Toby Sheets.

“Toby gets all the credit,” Asmussen said. “He said she was up to it and he was right.”

Honey I’m Good was hustled to the front by Junior Alvarado and she was never headed, winning the Harmony Lodge by a length over a sealed, muddy surface. Royal Charlotte, the slight 7-5 favorite, finished second by three-quarters of a length over longshot Pacific Gale.

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Mother Mother was fourth followed, in order, by Last True Love, Piedi Bianchi, Slimey, Nisha, and Gypsy Janie. Chalon, the 5-2 morning-line second choice, was scratched by trainer Arnaud Delacour because he didn’t want to run over the muddy track.

Conversely, Sheets said he was hoping for rain, which resulted in a sealed surface.

“She loves that,” Sheets said in a post-race interview with NYRA’s Maggie Wolfendale.

She also loved being the lone speed. Honey I’m Good, a daughter of Shackleford owned by Almost Heaven Stables, struck the front after a quarter in 22.49 seconds and continued on through a half-mile in 45.82. Still unchallenged coming into the stretch, Honey I’m Good easily held Royal Charlotte at bay, covering six furlongs in 1:10.87. Honey I’m Good returned $12.80 to win.

“My filly was probably the only one with real speed,” Alvarado said. “There were a couple of horses with tactical speed. I had only one plan, hoping she would break like she did and after that just cruise along, let her get comfortable, and hopefully have something to finish at the end. She showed the plan worked today.”

The Harmony Lodge was the second of what became three consecutive victories on the card for Alvarado, who won race 8 on Lost Ticket ($42) and the finale on Uncle George ($12.20).

Honey I’m Good won her second straight race and has now won 5 of 10 career starts.