Hyper rallies energetically in Bowling Green

Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trainer Chad Brown continued their hot hand

in the turf division when Hyper landed Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000

Bowling Green Handicap, the opening-day feature at Belmont Park.

A stablemate of Arlington Million winner Real Solution and Sword Dancer

Invitational hero Big Blue Kitten, Hyper forged to the front down the stretch

and parried the late thrust of Finnegans Wake to notch his first graded victory.

Boisterous, the 3-5 favorite, ended up third after a checkered passage.

Hyper, the 5-2 second choice, was coming off his first overall stakes win in

the July 31 John's Call at Saratoga. With Javier Castellano back aboard, the

six-year-old was anchored near the back of the short field as Quick Casablanca

carved out fractions of :24 1/5 and :48 4/5 on the firm inner turf.

London Lane and Farhaan secured stalking spots, while Boisterous was

restrained in fourth along the hedge. One spot behind him in fifth was Hyper,

who took closer order after six furlongs in 1:12 4/5, and was poised to strike

when Quick Casablanca clocked the mile in 1:37.

Straightening for home, Hyper rolled past the longtime leader. But Finnegans

Wake, last early, had been making similar headway, and the deep closer threw

down a challenge in the stretch. Boisterous, on the other hand, had been mired

on the inside, forced to check, and got out belatedly.

Hyper fended off Finnegans Wake by a half-length to complete 1 1/4 grassy

miles in 2:01 1/5. Another two lengths astern came the unfortunate Boisterous,

who got up by three-quarters of a length over Quick Casablanca. Next came London

Lane and the long-way last Farhaan.

"My horse didn't break too sharp today, for whatever reason," Castellano said

of Hyper. "My goal in my mind was to keep him relaxed the first part of the race

and then find the kick.

"When Boisterous and my horse made their moves at the same time, at the

quarter-pole, Johnny (Velazquez aboard the favorite) didn't have a choice, he

had to go inside. I had a choice, to go around horses. My horse took off and did

it the right way. He hung a little bit but when he saw the other horse come on

the outside, he came on again."

Boisterous' connections rued their luck.

"It was way open (at the top of the stretch), for two horses at least,"

Velazquez said.

"He got stopped at a bad time in the race, then he had to check him again,"

trainer Shug McGaughey said. "When he got him to the outside, he came on and

finished. It's just one of those things."

Hyper paid $7.90 to win and increased his earnings to $554,700 from his

21-10-5-2 record, compiled exclusively on turf. The homebred was a late

developer who spent quite a bit of time in the starter allowance ranks. But

after winning three straight at that level over the winter of 2011-2012, he

stepped up to allowance/optional claimers and extended his streak to five. Hyper

shipped to Royal Ascot last summer for the Wolferton, winding up ninth, and

fared worse when a tailed-off last of seven in the Steventon Stakes at Newbury.

Freshened for nearly six months after his English misadventure, Hyper

returned with a rallying third to Za Approval in an allowance/optional claimer

at Gulfstream on January 5. He scored in a similar event over the same course

and 1 1/16-mile distance on March 9, and has competed in stakes company ever

since.

Hyper was a closing third to Street Game and Lubash in his U.S. stakes debut

in the April 14 Dave at Aqueduct. A troubled second to Teaks North in the Good

Reward over the Bowling Green course and distance on May 15, he was a

wide-rallying runner-up to London Lane in the June 22 Colonial Turf Cup. Hyper

then scored his stakes breakthrough in the 1 5/8-mile John's Call, and

successfully cut back in trip to make it two in a row here.

"He's always trained well," assistant trainer Cherie DeVaux said. "Chad has

had him for so long, and he's always been a nice horse to train. He always tries

really hard, he always looks great.

"With age, he has been getting better. What's so enjoyable about watching him

run is that he seems to get better every time. He always finds a way to find a

little more, and as he's gotten older he keeps finding ways to step up."

Unlike the Ramseys' recent homebred stars, Hyper is not by Kitten's Joy. He

is a son of Victory Gallop and the unraced Nureyev mare Raw Nerve. While his

immediate family includes Australian Group 2 victor Rasheek and English Group 3

winner Burooj, his most famous relatives are a little further back.

Hyper's fourth dam is Queen Sucree, who produced 1974 Kentucky Derby hero

Cannonade and appears as the granddam of Grade 1 stars Stephan's Odyssey and

Lotka. Queen Sucree is herself a half-sister to Hall of Famer Tosmah and

renowned sire Halo, from the family of breed-shaping patriarch Northern Dancer.

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