$62,500 Claim Hembree Pays Off in Joe Hernandez Stakes
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Hembree captures the Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita Park
Owner Tom Kagele and trainer Peter Miller claimed C Z Rocket at Oaklawn Park last spring and won a pair of graded stakes with him on the West Coast.
Now they've pulled off the claim-to-stakes feat again, this time with Hembree, a horse they haltered for $62,500 from an optional claiming race he won at Churchill Downs Nov. 19. Racing Jan. 1 in the $201,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park, the late-running Proud Citizen 7-year-old horse went from last to first to defeat True Valour by three-quarters of a length.
Jockey Joel Rosario saved ground on the turn aboard the veteran campaigner and deftly slipped him inside pacesetter P R Radio Star in early stretch. This left him in a position to catch True Valour, who had swooped to take the lead with just less than a furlong remaining in the sprint.
Hembree (rail) leads the field down the stretch in the Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita Park
The former couldn't match strides with Hembree in the final furlong, and Hembree hit the wire timed in 1:13.80 for 6 1/2 furlongs on firm turf. His time followed splits of :21.56 and :44.13. He paid $12.40.
"It really was just a fantastic ride by Joel; that's why he's one of the world's best," said Miller.
True Valour, a graded winner himself, finished 3 1/4 lengths in front of Blitzkrieg in third. He was followed in fourth by Texas Wedge, who ran into traffic in early stretch, and Chaos Theory was fifth. Favored Wildman Jack and P R Radio Star rounded out the order of finish in the seven-horse field.
The Joe Hernandez gave Hembree the third stakes win following earlier stakes triumphs on the grass in the six-furlong Nearctic Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine in 2018 and the El Prado Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream Park in 2019 for prior owner Three Diamonds Farm and trainer Mike Maker. They had acquired him with a $50,000 claim in April 2018, and he went on to earn $618,535 for them over 2 1/2 years.
Exiting 16 consecutive races at 7 1/2 furlongs or longer, Miller wondered if Hembree could rally in time to win the Joe Hernandez at 6 1/2 furlongs.
"He's a very fast horse; he runs fast figures and fast Beyers. The question to me was, whether the six and a half was too short for him, but he answered that question today," Miller said.
He is now 8-for-40 overall with career earnings of $927,371, the leading earner of seven foals from his dam, the Langfuhr mare Knockatrina. She has produced three other winners and also has an unnamed, newly turned 2-year-old filly by Klimt , and a short yearling filly by Practical Joke .
Hembree, bred in Kentucky by Derby Lane Farm, was a $40,000 purchase by Ken and Sarah Ramsey at the 2015 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland from the Royal Oak Farm consignment. He raced for the Ramseys as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old, placing in a stakes race as a juvenile for trainer Joe Sharp. He later changed hands on multiple occasions.
The Joe Hernandez, named in memory of Santa Anita's initial announcer from 1934-1972, was the first graded stakes race of 2021 to be run without the diuretic Lasix following rule changes that began with the new year.