Maturing Hidden Connection works for Rachel Alexandra
Pity the Fair Grounds clocking crew.
An extended spell of cold, wet weather last week backed up workout schedules and led to a deluge of breezes after the Fair Grounds dirt track had dried Sunday and Monday. A total of 142 horses posted workouts Monday, which was nothing compared to Sunday, when 295 workers made the Fair Grounds tab. Track officials and local observers speculated that Sunday was the busiest work day in modern Fair Grounds history.
Among the Sunday workers was Hidden Connection, who breezed a snappy five furlongs in 1:00.40. Hidden Connection worked in company with the talented 3-year-old colt Kupuna while training toward her 3-year-old debut in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 19. Hidden Connection won her debut, a Colonial Downs maiden sprint, by 7 1/2 lengths, earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, and got an 87 capturing the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill over 1 1/16 miles by 9 1/4 lengths.
That form made her the 3-1 third choice in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, her most recent start, but Hidden Connection clunked home fourth, beaten 13 lengths. Trainer Bret Calhoun went into the Breeders’ Cup with confidence and had no excuse for Hidden Connection’s performance, but likes the way the filly has been training.
“Those two worked together the whole way,” Calhoun said. “It was a good work, maybe not as spectacular as some of her other works.”
Calhoun said he was referring to Hidden Connection’s 2-year-old breezes, where she would put up blazing times at the expense of a more prudent approach.
“It was more like try to slow her down all the time,” he said. “She’s a little older, wiser, and smarter, not just blowing and going like she was as a young horse. We just need her to come back to her Pocahontas.”
La Crete, winner of the Silverbulletday Stakes, also worked for the Rachel Alexandra on Sunday, going five furlongs in 1:01.40. Dream Lith, winner of the Golden Rod and also a Rachel Alexandra probable, went five furlongs in 1:02.40.
Murrill wins 1,000th race
Mitchell Murill, a 27-year-old jockey, notched his 1,000th career winner Sunday. Murrill, from Mobile, Ala., began riding sanctioned races in 2013 and won 44 times from 451 mounts his first full season, 2014. He since has progressed steadily and had his best earning year in 2021 with more than $5.6 million in purses.
◗ For a change, Fair Grounds has a weekday race worthy of being called a feature: Friday’s eighth, a turf route, has a basic second-level allowance condition along with a $40,000 claiming option, and drew some solid entrants, including Palazzi. Unraced since a poor Kentucky Downs showing Sept. 5, Palazzi won the 2021 Texas Turf Mile.