One Go All Go looks strong if he runs in Hawthorne Derby
STICKNEY, Ill. – With mere maiden races at slots-rich tracks going for close to $100,000, one might have thought the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby, offering a $150,000 purse, would come up light on quality. That thought would’ve been wrong.
The race overfilled, with 12 horses in the main body of the field and one also-eligible. Among the contenders are five stakes winners, including four graded stakes winners, as well as Wireless Future and Mission Driven, the second- and third-place finishers in the rich Dueling Grounds Derby, and Nucifera, a French import trained by Graham Motion who has started only once in the U.S. but kept high-class company last year at 2.
One Go All Go is among the graded stakes winners and would be a solid bet to win, but he is uncertain to run, trainer Pavel Matejka said Thursday. Owners Art and Jack Preston also are considering the Bryan Station Stakes during the Breeders’ Cup meet at Keeneland.
If he runs, he’ll be a forward factor from the start, and rival riders figure to take him more seriously than they did Sept. 19 in the Grade 2 Commonwealth Derby, in which One Go All Go and obscure jockey Ron Hisby made the lead, backed up the pace, and won at 35-1. That was One Go All Go’s second start at 3 and his second start for Matejka. He ran a similarly strong race in beating older allowance foes at Indiana Grand in his 2015 debut, though he was disqualified.
At nine furlongs on grass, the Hawthorne Derby goes as race 8 at 5:40 p.m. Central. It’s been dry in Chicago, and the turf should be fast and firm.
Key contenders
One Go All Go (Last 3 Beyers: 92-91-73)
* Does most of his training on a turf field at Prestonwood Farm next to the Thoroughbred Center training facility outside of Lexington.
“He’s a pretty difficult horse, not easy to relax,” said Matejka, who became the Prestons’ private trainer in August 2014. “He wants to do more than you want him to do.”
* Drawn wide, but only Wireless Future on the rail figures to run with him early, and a favorable trip seems likely.
Granny’s Kitten (Last 3 Beyers: 86-84-77)
* Two strong races to start his 3-year-old season were followed by two lesser performances, albeit facing Grade 1 competition in the Belmont Derby and the Secretariat Stakes. He got back on track last out at Indiana Grand with a closing second to the talented Courtier, and the longer Hawthorne stretch should benefit him.
Wireless Future (Last 3 Beyers: 93-67-74)
* Strong form at Fair Grounds but lost his way when coming north and trying a synthetic surface in the Spiral Stakes. Returned from a layoff and was a good second behind the talented Closing Bell, who was second in the Secretariat, in the Dueling Grounds Derby.
* Starts Saturday for trainer Chris Richard because regular trainer Tom Amoss is serving a medication-related suspension.
* May wind up the lone speed if One Go All Go is scratched.
Saham (Last 3 Beyers: 85-86-86)
* Raced too close to a fast pace two starts ago at Indiana and rallied into a slow pace to win the Grade 3 Jefferson Cup last out at Churchill Downs, finishing with a fast final quarter-mile.
* His best races have come between 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 furlongs, and being out of a Forest Wildcat mare, his kick could be less effective going nine furlongs through a long stretch run.
Nucifera (Last Beyer: 82)
* He had no pace to run at in his U.S. debut at Saratoga, and last year in France, he was beaten less than a length by the high-class Full Mast.