Hymn tenaciously digs in to hold troops at bay in Forego Stakes
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It took gelding him to bring out the best in Hymn, but the best version of Hymn showed up in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Forego Stakes at Saratoga.
Hymn, under Ricardo Santana Jr., overtook the pacesetting Tip Top Thomas just above the eighth pole and then held off a trio of closers to win the Forego by three-quarters of a length. Favored Senior Officer and longshot T Kraft dead-heated for second, both a head in front of Crazy Mason. Tip Top Thomas and Bring the Smoke completed the order of finish.
Book’em Danno, the even-money morning-line favorite, was scratched Saturday morning after presumably getting cast in his stall overnight, according to trainer Derek Ryan. Book’em Danno is expected to be okay and could target the Grade 2 Vosburgh at Belmont Park on Sept. 26. Banishing was scratched after running second in Friday night’s $1 million Charles Town Classic.
Ron Moquett, the trainer of Hymn, said his first thought when he heard that Book’em Danno was scratched was to make sure that horse was going to be okay. His second was how that might impact how much more seriously Hymn would be taken by his rivals.
“I’m thinking it changes the way of the race. Now instead of going in where nobody’s paying attention to us, people may actually be riding us because they knew we’re the second speed,” Moquett said.
Hymn broke sharp from post 2, but jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. was happy to let Tip Top Thomas, under Flavien Prat, have the lead and Hymn sat within a half-length of him through a half-mile in 45.03 seconds.
Hymn confronted Tip Top Thomas in upper stretch, wrested the lead from him above the eighth pole and persevered to the wire, getting his final furlong in 13.06. Hymn, a 4-year-old gelding by McKinzie owned by the Fleur De Lis Stables, William Sparks, and Bret Jones, covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.48 – 1.77 seconds slower than the 3-year-old Englishman ran winning the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens earlier on the card. Hymn returned $11.40 as the third choice.
Santana had ridden Hymn to a runner-up finish behind Built in the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt earlier this meet. Santana said he worked the horse in between and told Moquett “this is a different horse,” Santana said. “We got more power this time.”
Moquett thought Hymn had potential to win a Grade 1 race and though he didn’t want to geld him when he did following an allowance race in March, Hymn is 4 for 5 since then.
“I thought he was a beautiful, wonderful horse from Day One,” Moquett said. “I hated having to geld him. When I did, I said well now let’s go make him a racehorse and try to win the Breeders’ Cup.”
The Forego is designated as a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. But Moquett said he would likely point Hymn to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with a potential start in the Grade 2, $400,000 Phoenix at Keeneland on Oct. 2.
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