Performer back in winner's circle with Fred Hooper Stakes
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Performer became a Grade 3 winner for the second time on Saturday, but it wasn’t easy. The 4-5 favorite had all he could handle before ultimately prevailing by a neck over the game Eye of a Jedi in the $125,000 Fred Hooper, which was the first of seven graded stakes on Saturday's Pegasus World Cup program at Gulfstream Park.
Performer had a five-race win streak snapped when he finished a disappointing third as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile in his 2020 finale at Aqueduct. The streak included a 1 1/4-length tally over Tax in the Grade 3 Discovery in November 2019.
With regular rider Joel Rosario aboard, Performer broke a step slow from the inside but quickly recovered to take up a good striking position just off the early pace of Shivaree. Rosario angled Performer four wide to commence his bid into the stretch, joining Eye of a Jedi nearing the furlong grounds before finally sticking his head in front and prevailing in the final sixteenth of a mile.
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Eye of a Jedi, runner-up in the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday in his last start, raced well-placed from the outset, split the leaders while being sent up to challenge for command into the stretch, held a slight advantage leaving the furlong grounds, but could not quite match strides with the winner at the end.
Avant Garde rallied from last to finish third. He was followed across the wire, in order, by the tiring Shivaree, Phat Man, Dream Maker, Indimaaj, and Haikal.
Performer is a homebred son of Speigtstown owned by Phipps Stable and Clairborne Farm and trained by Shug McGaughey. Official final time for the race, which was hand-timed due to a teletimer malfunction, was 1:35.49. The winner paid $3.80.
Performer earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He (Rosario) got him in the right spot, got him to the outside, it looked like he tried to hang with that horse on the lead (Eye of the Jedi) a little bit but he was able to finish up,” McGaughey said. “It’s been on my mind to run him in the Gulfstream Mile, but after watching him run today, I might want to do something to get him stretched out around two turns where now that he’s older, he might be more on the pace than he was before.”