Hot Peppers surges to Jersey Girl triumph
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Rudy Rodriguez won the Grade 1 Test last year with Bella Sofia. It was that success which helped land Hot Peppers in his barn a few months ago.
On Sunday, Hot Peppers did what Bella Sofia couldn’t do last year - win the $150,000 Jersey Girl Stakes at Belmont Park. Bella Sofia could manage only a second-place finish in the 2021 Jersey Girl.
In Sunday’s Jersey Girl, jockey Luis Saez hustled Hot Peppers to the front right out of the gate and she led her four pursuers on a futile chase, winning the six-furlong race by 6 3/4 lengths. Stand Up Comic finished second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Sweet Solare. Gimmick and Diamond Collector completed the order of finish.
The victory was the fourth from six starts for Hot Peppers, a Florida-bred daughter of Khozan, who was purchased privately by Michael Dubb following a 14 1/4-length maiden victory at Gulfstream in January. She won two more races at Gulfstream Park before she hit her head on the gate just prior to the start of the Sophomore Fillies Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, a race in which she finished last.
Trained by Ron Spatz for her first five starts, Dubb sent the horse to Rodriguez after Hot Peppers got four weeks of down time on the farm.
“I saw the job Rudy did with Bella Sofia,” said Dubb, referring to the filly who not only won the Test, but who is 2 for 2 this year including a victory in Friday’s Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses Stakes here. “He’s on these horses and he gets to know them, so here we are. Let’s hope it’s onward and upward.”
Rodriguez and Saez were both familiar with Hot Peppers in that both were beaten by the filly multiple times at Gulfstream.
“She beat me like nothing,” Saez said. “I got the opportunity to ride the filly and man, she’s really a runner. She break from there so fast and she kept running. She’s the kind of filly that when she feels somebody’s coming she take off again.”
Rodriguez said Saez told him that he was going to go for the early lead.
“This filly beat me twice at Gulfstream already I can’t take the speed away from her,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said that Hot Peppers not only broke sharp but in doing so intimidated Kendrick Carmouche aboard Sweet Solare, the other speed on paper.
“She was all by herself and that was the key,” Rodriguez said.
Hot Peppers covered the six furlongs over a good harrowed track in 1:10.24 and returned $3.50 to win.
With Hot Peppers having run in this race off an 11-week layoff, Dubb said he may want to run Hot Peppers in the Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride at Belmont on July 9 rather than simply wait until Aug. 28 to run her in the Test at Saratoga.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez said Bella Sofia came out of her victory in Friday’s Bed o’ Roses in good order and he hopes to be able to train her up to the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 28.