Moquett finds meaning in Hymn's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash victory
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When the 4-year-old gelding Hymn rocketed home to win the $175,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash on Saturday at Laurel Park, it meant more to trainer Ron Moquett than a purse or a steppingstone. He respects the history of the race, and with his 4-year-old gelding’s bounding victory, he has woven yet another story into its tapestry.
“If the race was another $100,000 in purse, and the name was just the ‘Something’ Sprint, it wouldn't mean as much as it does carrying that name,” Moquett said.
When Moquett won the Dash for the first time with Gentleman’s Bet in 2015, the race was in the midst of one of its many changes. A Grade 1 race from 1999 to 2009 (it was not run in 2008 and 2010) it was ungraded until 2016, when it became a Grade 3 race. In 2022 it became a listed stakes.
Once a key race for horses such as notoriously fast Kelly Kip, Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Thor’s Echo, or champion sprinter Benny the Bull, the Dash is no longer a preeminent sprint. But as Hymn charged down the stretch on the way to a 5 1/2-length victory, it became clear that the race had attracted at least one rising star.
Moquett had always thought highly of Hymn, and considered him for stakes competition early in his 3-year-old season and revisited the idea several times. Because of his pedigree and obvious potential, the trainer hesitated to geld him, but after persistent issues getting him to focus, he finally made the move in April.
“We really were a little slow gelding him because he's so beautiful and we loved his family,” Moquett said. “We thought that if he was to run like he looked, that he had the potential to maybe be something somebody wanted to breed to. But he was a little quirky and a little inconsistent, and it was to the point where it was time to do it.”
In his next two starts at Oaklawn Park, Hymn demonstrated obvious improvement, winning both races with purpose and making his case for a return to stakes company. Jockey Rafael Bejarano, who rode him in his first two career starts and again in April, said his focus in recent starts has been outstanding.
“He’s been more focused, more relaxed in the post parade,” Bejarano said. “He was more concentrated in the gate. It makes a big difference. Sometimes, the horses needed something, and it makes the difference with his horse.”
Bejarano, who came to Laurel specifically to ride Hymn, said he knew he had a strong chance when the McKinzie gelding maintained his newfound composure all the way to the starting gate.
The 8-5 favorite stalked in fourth in the early going, chasing behind dueling front-runners Faust and Celtic Contender through an opening quarter-mile in 23.10 seconds.
Celtic Contender, who seemed renewed after a dull effort in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint last month, took over from Faust and completed the half-mile in 46.91. He put away his dueling rival soon after, but even in better form, he was largely powerless when Hymn advanced into second on the far turn.
Celtic Contender carried his lead into the stretch but did not get much farther, as Hymn swallowed him up down the center and pulled clear with no other challengers coming from farther behind.
After grinding his way to two allowance victories at Oaklawn, he ran off at will in his return to stakes company at Laurel. He completed the six-furlong sprint in 1:11.51 and paid $5.40 to win. Bejarano, who does not ride at Laurel regularly, seemed to continue riding the gelding to the second wire farther up the stretch.
Wickeddivine, the longest shot in the field at 13-1, made a determined stalking bid from third for trainer Kenny Cox, but he could not get around Celtic Contender, who held second by a head for trainer Hamilton Smith.
Just as the Dash once held a distinct identity alongside the prestigious East Coast sprints when it was a graded stakes, it could hold an interesting place in Hymn’s rise to national prominence this year. Following his dominant breakthrough on Saturday, Moquett said he was considering sending the gelding to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 25.
“I wrote a bunch of races down, and then we wrote them on my wall, races that I wanted to win before I retire,” Moquett said. “I was lucky enough to get the Phoenix, the Count Fleet, the Stephen Foster, the Forego, all these races that I grew up wanting to win. The Vanderbilt has snuck away from me. We've been second, third in it, and eventually, I'd love to win that. If the horse is well and it sets up for us, we'll try that probably.”
In 1991, Housebuster won a July edition of the Dash before going on to win the Grade 2 Forego at Saratoga. He then won the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont, and, despite finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, went on to be named the American Champion Sprint Horse for a second straight year.
Moquett said he looked back and remembered Housebuster. It’s arguable that he’s still following his lead.
“I kept going through all the sprinters, and for a guy that grew up just loving sprinters, this is a marquee race,” Moquett said. “It’s had its ups and its downs, but it's always been, consistently, a top-tier sprint.”
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