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An easy win for Hard Spun
(Lou Hodges Jr. Photo/Fair Grounds Race Course) |
Fox Hill Farms' HARD SPUN (Danzig) remained unbeaten with a stylish 6
1/2-length victory in Saturday's $98,000
Lecomte S. (G3), leading wire-to-wire
over the Fair Grounds oval. Now four-for-four in his career, the Larry
Jones-trained colt established splits in :23 3/5, :46 3/5 and 1:11 before accelerating away
from his challengers on the far turn, impressively opening up through the
stretch while never being asked for his best from jockey Mario Pino. The bay
colt finished the mile over the fast track in a respectable 1:37 4/5.Favored at even money off convincing victories at Philadelphia and Delaware
Park, Hard Spun enhanced his Kentucky Derby (G1) credentials with his first
graded win. He returned paltry payouts of $4, $3 and $2.10, keying the $21.60
exacta with Izzie's Halo (Halo's Image), who took second by 2 1/4 lengths at 9-2
and paid $4.60 and $3.20. Teuflesberg (Johannesburg) capped the $57.40 trifecta
at 7-2, giving back $2.80, and it was another five lengths back to
Makeithapencaptain (Aptitude), who rounded out the $111.80 superfecta (3-4-7-1)
at 5-1. Beta Capo (Langfuhr), Tony Terrific (Gone West) and Citi Smoke (Smoke
Glacken) completed the order of finish.
Bred in Pennsylvania by Michael Moran and Brushwood Stable, Hard Spun was
acquired privately by Fox Hill and is out of the stakes-winning and Grade
2-placed Turkish Tryst (Turkoman), who is also the dam of stakes winner Our Rite
of Spring (Stravinsky) and multiple stakes-placed Wild Current (Wild Again).
This is the family of champion Little Current (*Sea-Bird), who famously swept to
victories in the 1974 Preakness S. (G1) and Belmont S. (G1), as well as
Prayers'n Promises (Foolish Pleasure), winner of the 1980 Spinaway S. (G1) and
Matron S. (G1). A more recent representative of the female line is 2005
Transylvania S. (G3) winner Chattahoochee War (War Chant).
An easy scorer in the six-furlong Port Penn S. at Delaware Park in
mid-November, Hard Spun entered the Lecomte off a 7 3/4-length thrashing in the
seven-furlong Pennsylvania Nursery S. at Philadelphia Park. He made his two-turn
debut on Saturday and increased his career earnings to $160,970.
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