Here Mi Song Gets 'Little Guy' a Win in Commonwealth

Here Mi Song , star of a three-horse, backyard stable, took on the big boys and showed them how it's done in the $300,000 Commonwealth Stakes (G3) April 8 at Keeneland, much to the joy of a small but vocal cheering squad.

It was the first stakes win for owner/breeder Nathan Hayden. Here Mi Song, in fact, was his first-ever runner and now is the star of his micro stable, which also includes Here Mi Song's dam, the Dehere  mare Mi Viera .

Hayden's sister and niece were among the small but enthusiastic group in from the Henderson, Ky., area where the winner is housed.

"It's a barn out back of the house," Hayden said of his stable.

The cheering started early as Here Mi Song, after racing next-to-last of 10 down the backstretch, swung to the outside at the top of the stretch and quickly mounted his challenge. Racing outside Hoist the Gold , jockey Alex Achard got his mount's head in front of that rival and held a narrow margin to the finish, winning by a neck.

Get Her Number , last seen in California, finished third with Nakatomi  fourth.

"He broke well but couldn't really keep up with the pace and I was fine with that," Achard said. "Then he dragged me close up to the lead faster than I thought and I was a bit worried turning for home because I was close up. But he just surprises us all the time. He's great."

Here Mi Song's three previous starts came on the all-weather course at Turfway Park, where he finished fourth, second and sixth. The fourth was a good effort in the Prairie Bayou Stakes Dec. 17, where he was beaten only 1 1/2 lengths.

The 5-year-old Cross Traffic   gelding came into the Commonwealth with a record of one win and two seconds from three starts this year and trainer William Stinson Jr. said he clearly enjoyed the return to racing on the dirt.

"Those last couple of races, he ran good but he had no place to go," the trainer said. "When he got a clear run out there today, I said, 'They're going to have to run some to beat him this time.'

"You're always worried when you're running against these kind of horses until you cross the wire," Stinson added. It's a good day. A good day. ... He's a great horse. He broke his maiden here."

The win came at the expense of some much more accomplished rivals. Hoist the Gold, a 4-year-old Mineshaft   colt trained by Dallas Stewart, finished third in the Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita two starts back. Nakatomi, a 4-year-old Firing Line   gelding, was fourth in the Malibu and third in the Tom Fool Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct in his latest for trainer Wesley Ward.

Get Her Number, based in California with trainer Peter Miller, was last seen finishing third in the San Carlos Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita.

Hayden said he got into racing when "some old, old guy got me three horses. He said, 'Keep the dam. She's going to throw you something good sometime. Now she has."

Hayden added his three-horse stable is about to grow.

"It might be four by the time I get home tonight," he said, as Mi Viera was due to deliver a Sky Mesa   foal at any moment.

"I tried to get him to breed her back to Cross Traffic," Stinson said. "No go."