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Hierro rallies for Derby Trial win
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| Hierro scored his first stakes win in the Derby Trial
(Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) |
Stonestreet Stables LLC's Hierro rallied four wide in the stretch to run down
favored Paynter to win the 88th running of the Grade 3, $232,600
Derby
Trial by 1 1/2 lengths before a crowd of 26,527 on opening night of
Churchill Downs Friday.
Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Julien Leparoux, Hierro ran a mile on
the sloppy track in 1:35 1/5. It was the second Derby Trial win for Asmussen,
who saddled Valid Expectations to victory in 1996, and for Leparoux, who won the
2008 race on Macho Again.
"This is a horse whose last two races have been very eventful," Asmussen
said. "This evening with the weather earlier and then the delay in the paddock,
I loved how he acted. I thought he kept his composure. I thought Julien
(Leparoux) gave him a dream trip tonight and he ran extremely well against a
quality field."
The Derby Trial was delayed after a violent thunderstorm swept through the
Louisville area, drenching the track while powerful lightning flashed overhead.
"After the rain we watched the next couple of races and felt they went over
the track well and everyone was handling it good and that it was safe to run
on," Asmussen said of the decision to run.
The Black led the field of eight through fractions of :22 3/5 and :45 1/5
down the backstretch straightaway with Saint of Saints in closest pursuit and
Paynter in third. Midway on the far turn, Martin Garcia sent Paynter after The
Black and took command entering the stretch with Stealcase also moving toward
the front.
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As the leading trio fanned across the track, Leparoux had Hierro in the clear
and moved to the lead at the eighth-pole to secure his second victory in six
starts. Both victories have come at Churchill Downs and under Leparoux.
Hierro earned $139,886 for the victory to increase his bankroll to $186,966
and his line now reads 6-2-1-0. The chestnut returned $12, $4.60 and $3.20 as
the 5-1 third pick.
"We were looking for this race from him," Asmussen said. "He had shown talent
all along. The horse has developed a lot physically and I think he beat a
quality field tonight. It's what we were hoping for and hopefully there are
bigger things to come.
"It's obviously been brought up several times in the last five minutes," he
added when asked about the Preakness Stakes. "We will evaluate how he comes out
of it, how he acts, but we're very pleased with this win tonight."
Paynter had his neck in front of Stealcase on the wire to take second, while
Bourbon Courage, The Black, Motor City, Quick Wit and Saint of Saints completed
the order of finish.
A three-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Hard Spun, Hierro is out of the Grade
3-placed Navarone mare Brief Bliss and is a half-brother to Grade 3-placed
multiple stakes winner Cherokee Triangle. He comes from the same female family
as 1959 champion handicap mare Tempted.
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