Lezcano rations out Myhartblongstodady's energy in Hettinger score.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Myhartblongstodady has won races from on and off the pace. Friday, she used both running styles to win the $125,000 John Hettinger Stakes for New York-bred females at Belmont Park.
Contesting the lead in the nine-furlong turf race with Pecatonica early on, Myhartblongstodady was taken off the pace by Jose Lezcano when Cara’s Dreamer, under Dylan Davis, showed some initiative down the backstretch. Myhartblongstodady sat comfortably in a joint second before coming off the rail at the top of the lane and then overtook Cara’s Dreamer in mid-stretch. Myhartblongstodady held Ice Princess at bay in the final yards to win the Hettinger by three-quarters of a length.
Ice Princess, who clipped heels about 50 yards out of the gate and was last early, rallied wide under Luis Saez to finish second by a length over Cara’s Dreamer. Two Cent Tootsie, Pecatonica, and Dancingwthdaffodls completed the order of finish.
Classic Lady, the 5-2 morning-line second choice, and main-track only entrants Dancing Kiki and Make Mischief were scratched.
The win was the sixth from 15 starts for Myhartblongstodady, a 6-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy owned and bred by Lawrence Goichman and trained by Jorge Abreu. It was her first victory since she won the Ticonderoga Stakes here last October. Myhartblongstodady will be aimed at this year’s $200,000 Ticonderoga on Oct. 30 and that will be the final race of her career before she is bred next year, according to Abreu.
In the Hettinger, there didn’t appear to be defined pace. Pecatonica and Myhartblongstodady went into and around the first turn vying for the lead before Cara’s Dreamer took over from both of them early on down the backstretch. Lezcano sat chilly on Myhartblongstodady before he asked her to go approaching the head of the lane.
Myhartblongstodady covered the 1 1/8 miles in a hand-timed 1:48.20 over firm turf and returned $4.60 as the favorite.
Lezcano, who won three races on Friday’s card, is now 4 for 6 on Myhartblongstodady with a second and a third.
“Jose knows her very well,” Abreu said. “I said ‘Play the break and use your judgment’ and he did. They get along pretty good. I was a little concerned about the mile and an eighth but this was a weaker field compared to the one she ran before.”
The one other time Myhartblongstodady tried 1 1/8 miles was in the Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa in March where she finished last.
Danny Gargan, the trainer of Ice Princess, was frustrated with the trip his filly had in the Ticonderoga. She got bumped and turned sideways at the break, then clipped heels and bobbled before the field hit the first turn and was last early on.
“I thought she’d be laying three lengths off of it,” Gargan said. “If she’s laying second or third right there with [Myhartblongstodady] she wins.”