Utley Hopes to Keep Rolling With Yes It's Ginger

Mike "Hotdog" Utley wasn't sure what he was buying into when approached last year about acquiring part-interest in Yes It's Ginger  (by Yes It's True ), a winless 4-year-old filly who'd been off for a year. But he trusted trainer Greg Foley, who already planned to buy into the horse on behalf of a partnership spearheaded by his sons. 

"We rolled the dice, and I tell you what, it was a good roll. A really good roll," said Utley, who runs his family's Edward Utley Jr. beer and wine distributors in Henderson, Ky. "I've known Greg a long time. If he was going to get in it, as long as he was the trainer and we were going to be partners, I thought it was a good deal."

Utley's faith in Foley has turned into the ride of his life as a racehorse owner. Yes It's Ginger won her first start for her new trainer and Brilliant Racing's new partners last summer at Ellis Park—and then won right back. Her fifth win came in her last start, taking Lone Star Park's Chicken Fried Stakes by four lengths for Utley's first stakes victory.

Yes It's Ginger is entered in the Aug. 8 $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint and will run in either that 5 1/2-furlong turf race or three days later in Indiana Grand's $65,000 IU Hoosiers Stakes at five furlongs on grass. 

Foley said the 5-year-old Yes It's Ginger would be entered in both races with a decision to be made later. If Yes It's Ginger goes in the Ladies Sprint, the mare will be ridden by Marcelino Pedroza from post 10 in a 12-horse field.

"It's been a great ride," said the 59-year-old Utley, who has been a regular at Ellis Park since first going with his dad about age 12. "All the guys in the group, we communicate, send out a text, keep everybody updated. Everybody's happy. They're all riding this good ride. Because I've been on some bad ones. I've been in it a long time."

Foley has one other horse under consideration for the Ladies Sprint in Skinny Dip .

Skinny Dip has never raced on the turf, but it's not for lack of trying: She has been in three races taken off the grass and put on the main track, with two wins and a second.

"She's bred for the grass," Foley said. "It's Mike and K.K. Ball's filly, and they've always wanted to try her on the grass at some point. She's a nice filly but hopefully will step it up a notch on the turf. Big, gorgeous filly. I got her this winter. She'd been laid up for a little while, and Mike asked if I'd take her to the Fair Grounds. I've loved her from day one."

Skinny Dip will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. from post 7.

The Ladies Sprint is one of four turf stakes Sunday, the second day of Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend, created as a launching pad to stakes at Kentucky Downs' September meet. The other stakes on the card, all on turf, are the TVG Preview Mint Million for horses 3 and up at eight furlongs, the TVG Preview Ladies Mile for fillies and mares 3 and up, and the TVG Preview Turf Cup for horses 3 and up at 1 1/4 miles.

Entries: KY Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint S.

Ellis Park, Sunday, August 08, 2021, Race 7

• STK
• 5 1/2f
• Turf
• $100,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 3:40 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Lady Gwen (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	122	M. Brent Davidson	15/1
2	2Sara Sea (KY)	David Cabrera	122	D. Wayne Lukas	15/1
3	3Ambassador Luna (FL)	James Graham	122	James M. Gulick	12/1
4	4Lastchanceforlove (KY)	Reylu Gutierrez	122	W. Bret Calhoun	15/1
5	5Intuicao (BRZ)	Alex Achard	122	Paulo H. Lobo	12/1
6	6Elle Z (KY)	Mitchell Murrill	122	Chris A. Hartman	7/2
7	7Skinny Dip (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	122	Gregory D. Foley	5/1
8	8Girl Named Patsy (KY)	Jon Kenton Court	122	Brian Michael	20/1
9	9Shesomajestic (KY)	Joseph Talamo	122	Michelle Nihei	15/1
10	10Yes It's Ginger (KY)	Marcelino Pedroza	124	Gregory D. Foley	3/1
11	11Amazima (KY)	Florent Geroux	122	Brendan P. Walsh	6/1
12	12Lady Anna (KY)	Adam Beschizza	122	Cherie DeVaux	20/1
13	13Bold Figure (KY)	Joseph D. Ramos	118	Kenneth G. Miller	30/1