Red Danger, Hendy Woods Ace Kentucky Downs Stakes

Red Danger  may have been just a $17,000 purchase at auction, but the Orb  colt took his value to another level Sept. 9 with a victory in the $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Entered by trainer Brian Lynch for Silverton Hill off a strong maiden score at second asking Aug. 11 going 5 1/2 furlongs on the lawn at Saratoga Race Course with Luis Saez in the irons, and reunited with that rider Thursday, 2-year-old Red Danger employed the same steady running style he displayed in New York to get the job done for his first black-type score.

The actual running of the 6 1/2-furlong Juvenile Sprint Stakes did not mark the only opportunity for Red Danger to bide his time Thursday. He also had to wait after loading into the gate and then unloading when Detroit City  (No. 7) flipped in the gate and Pure Panic  (No. 6) broke through the front without leaving the hands of the assistant starter. Both were scratched before the rest of the horses reloaded, leaving a field of eight to head on their way.

Breaking well from post 5, Red Danger tracked fifth along the outside as Baytown Warrior  set the pace through an opening quarter in :21.85. There was still a bit of ground to make up while Red Danger moved up through a :45.24 quarter behind three rivals, including 9-5 favorite Kaufymaker , but Saez kept his mount to the task and they wore down the front-runners with steady pressure through three-quarters in 1:10.03.

Shifting over to look Kaufymaker in the eye, Red Danger continued to grind it out and claimed the victory by three-quarters of a length in a final time of 1:16.51. He was off at odds of 5-2 and returned $7.20 on a $2 win ticket. Romancer  closed for second while Kaufymaker held for third.

"The one bit of confidence I had going into this race is that I always felt he'd do his best running late," Lynch said. "So when I saw him sort of get to the outside there and I could see him digging in, I always thought he'd close ground. Whether he was good enough to beat them, he wasn't going to back out of it. So it was great to see him prevail."

Red Danger was fifth July 17 in a maiden special weight on the dirt. He improved his record to two wins from three starts, with earnings of $359,700.

"He's really been a problem-free colt that just kept getting better; every time we worked him leading up to his first race he just kept getting better. Never left an oat. Never had a pimple on him or a snotty nose," Lynch said. "So we tried him on the dirt first time because he worked so well, but I always have a tendency to try my horses on the grass. So he ended up on the grass next time and won very impressively.

"We came back and had a work in between and the work was just fantastic. Mike Luzzi worked him for me up at Saratoga and he said, 'Not only did he work good, I just couldn't pull him up.' That gave me hope that we could press forward here in the 6 1/2 (furlongs) and gave us a glimmer of hope he could be a Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) horse. This is an undulating sort of track, so 6 1/2 (furlongs) plays like seven (furlongs)."

Red Danger was bred in Kentucky by DATTT Farm out of the winning Distorted Humor   mare Forget It  and is her first foal. She has a yearling Good Samaritan   filly and dropped a Maximus Mischief   colt April 20. She was bred to Honest Mischief for 2022.

Agent Phil Hager of Taproot Bloodstock selected Red Danger from Denali Stud's consignment to the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Video: Global Tote Juvenile Sprint S. (BT)

Hendy Woods Determined in One Dreamer

Stonestreet Stables' homebred Hendy Woods  earned the second stakes score of her career with a determined run in the $400,000 One Dreamer Stakes, also on the Thursday card. The 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo   even surprised trainer Mark Casse with the way in which she took the mile-and-70-yard turf test.

"Actually, I thought this was a tough race," Casse said. "I was surprised with the ease that she won it. She was training really well. We lost a heartbreaker with her at Saratoga."

The heartbreaker in question was the Aug. 8 Fasig-Tipton De La Rose Stakes, which went to Regal Glory  by just half a length.

"Last time she ran a big race. You never want to lose, but it actually worked out because we were able to run in this," Casse said of the One Dreamer, which was restricted to fillies and mares who hadn't won a stakes in 2021.

Off well from post nine under Tyler Gaffalione in a field of 11, Hendy Woods raced fourth along the outside as a quarter went in :22.74 with Sweet Melania  showing the way and I'llhandalthecash  pressing the pace. She moved up to third through a :45.98 half and three-quarters in 1:10.28, made up more ground, and poked a head in front through a 1:34.27 mile, and shook clear late to win by 4 1/4 lengths. The final time was 1:38.33.

"This filly was push-button the whole way," Gaffalione said. "She broke sharp, put me in a great spot. It was just hang on, really. She really stretched it out beautifully. All the credit goes to Mark and his team."

Sent off at odds of 2-1, Hendy Woods returned $6.60 on a $2 win ticket. Sweet Melania held for second, while Alta's Award  completed the trifecta.

Hendy Woods was bred in Kentucky out of the grade 3-winning Forestry mare Separate Forest, whose three foals to race have all been winners. The mare has an unraced More Than Ready   2-year-old colt named Bet He's Ready and dropped a Munnings   colt March 30. She was bred back to Uncle Mo for 2022.

The Casse trainee improved her earnings to $528,541 with five wins and two seconds from 10 starts. The One Dreamer joins the 2020 Indiana Grand Stakes as highlights on her résumé. 

Video: One Dreamer S. (BT)