Super Chow runs away with Hutcheson Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The fact Super Chow dominated Saturday’s $100,000 Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park came as no surprise to anyone. The way he did it, however, probably did.

After using his abundant speed to register three stakes wins and finish second last month in the Grade 3 Swale, Super Chow showed a new dimension in the Hutcheson after getting away a bit slow in the six-furlong race. To her credit, regular rider Chantal Sutherland remained patient after finding herself in an unfamiliar position with the heavy favorite in the run down the backstretch.

Sutherland allowed Super Chow to relax behind the early leaders, swung wide into the better footing off the rail to easily overtake Two of a Kind and Youbetterbejoking nearing the stretch before readily drawing off to a one-sided victory.

Live Is Life, Super Chow’s uncoupled mate, came widest and rallied willingly down the center of the strip to be second-best, finishing 5 1/4 lengths behind the winner while giving trainer Jorge Delgado and owner Bill Cosgrove’s Lea Farms a sweep of the first two placings in the Hutcheson, which was scratched down from seven to just four starters earlier in the day.

Super Chow, who has now won six of his eight career starts, completed the distance in 1:09.95 over a fast track and paid $2.40.

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“Chantal (Sutherland), credit to her, adjusted and went to Plan B after things didn’t go as we expected after the start,” Delgado said. “That’s why you put professional riders on the horses who are able to make decisions during the races. Thank God it worked out our way.”

Delgado said the slow start might have been a blessing in disguise for Super Chow.

“I definitely didn’t want to be on the rail, and when I saw her going to the outside part of the track I was happy,” Delgado said. “I knew we had the best horse, so it didn’t really matter how he was running. Now I know if there’s more speed in the race, we can rate. This race gave me the opportunity to really get to know him better.”

Delgado said the Grade 3 Chick Lang on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico on May 20 would likely be next for Super Chow. He also acknowledged that Live Is Life may be entered back in two weeks in the $1 million Florida Derby if the field comes up a small one, as it appears could be the case.

*** Big Invasion, showing no ill effects from her six-month layoff, rallied down the center of the track to a three-quarter-length victory over the pacesetting Yes I’m Free in the $100,000 Silks Run Stakes.

Big Invasion reeled off five consecutive stakes victories during her 3-year-old campaign in 2022 that started with a win here in the Texas Glitter on March 26 and included a decisive 2 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 3 Quick Call last summer at Saratoga. Trained by Christophe Clement for owner Dean Reeves, Big Invasion entered the Silks Run idle since her third-place finish as a prohibitive favorite in the Grade 2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs on September 10.

With regular rider Joel Rosario aboard, Big Invasion rated mid-pack in the run down the backstretch of the five-furlong Silks Run, swung five wide commencing her rally turning for home, then finished full of run to easily wear down the leader and win going away.

Yes I’m Free, wire-to-wire winner of the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint in her last start, set a lively pace, settled into the stretch with a clear lead, but proved no match for the winner. Carotari, runner-up in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, saved ground and held on to finish third, a half-length in front of Disclosure.

Big Invasion, a 4-year-old son of Declaration of War, completed the distance in 55.02 seconds over a firm turf and returned $4.80.

Clement’s son and assistant Miguel said things were a bit rough for Big Invasion when her six-race win streak came to an end last summer in Kentucky. The odds-on favorite was bumped hard at the start before rallying belatedly to finish a well-beaten third in the Franklin-Simpson.

“Kentucky Downs is a bit of a peculiar track, we gave her a bit of a freshening afterwards and hopefully the freshening has done her some good,” the younger Clement said. “I think the plan now is to run her in the Jaipur, the Grade 1 at Belmont, and then go to Royal Ascot.”

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