Vickie Foley's first Grade 1 didn't come without a little prayer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Vickie Foley called on a higher power Saturday when it appeared possible that Hog Creek Hustle would be disqualified from victory in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park.

Foley is the daughter of the late Dravo Foley, a popular local trainer whose footsteps she closely followed in a career she started in 1981.

“I was standing out on the racetrack and I said, ‘Please Dad, don’t let them take this horse down,’ ” she recalled. When the Belmont stewards kept the number up, “I got a lot of help,” she surmised.

Foley said Hog Creek Hustle, her first Grade 1 winner, will point to the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens on the Aug. 24 Travers card at Saratoga but that she hasn’t decided whether the Overanalyze colt will have an in-between start.

Before Saturday, the biggest win for Foley had come with She Says It Best in the Alcibiades at Keeneland in 2005, when it was still a Grade 2 race. In 2007, the Alcibiades was elevated to Grade 1 status.

Pair of Thursday allowances

Back-to-back allowances anchor an eight-race Twilight Thursday card that kicks off another four-day week at Churchill with a 5 p.m. first post. The deepest of the co-features is race 7, a $99,000, second-level turf sprint for older horses. Fast Boat, with Adam Beschizza riding for trainer Joe Sharp, won at this same level last month when entered for an optional claiming tag and figures as one of the favorites when looking to repeat.

Race 6 is a $97,000, first-level race on the main track. A foursome of favorites – Graceful Princess, Aife, Sundaysatthebeach, and Golden Curl – comprise half the field of fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles.

◗ Miguel Mena is being allowed to ride with a formal appeal pending of a three-day suspension stemming from the disqualification of his mount, Johnny Obvious, from first in the fifth race Friday.

With 11 days remaining at the spring meet, Mena is three wins behind Corey Lanerie (27-24), who leads the jockey standings. Julien Leparoux is next with 22.