Getting to Know Hard Aces

Bought privately in February, Hard Aces paid back Hronis Racing’s faith in him when winning in his fourth attempt for the team, the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita. The win also gives Hronis Racing a chance to have its first Breeders’ Cup Classic starter with the Gold Cup giving Hard Aces a “Win and You’re In” spot to Hard Aces.
A 5-year-old bay horse by Hard Spun, Hard Aces scored his first graded stakes victory in the Gold Cup. If all goes according to plan, he will try to add another graded stakes win to his resume on Oct. 31 in the Classic so let’s get to know one of the newest superstars in racing.
Race Résumé
Even though he has been running since late 2012, Hard Aces is fairly new to the stakes level. He made his first stakes attempt in February of 2014 when he finished sixth in the Fair Grounds Handicap before moving exclusively to stakes races that July.
In three more attempts at the listed stakes level in 2014 Hard Aces hit the board twice, including in the Tenacious Stakes where he ran a career-high 113 Equibase Speed Figure. His four-length win in the Louisiana Handicap against a field that included Albano and Nates Mineshaft in his first start of 2015 led to his private purchase and switch from trainer Larry Jones to John Sadler in California.
Since then, Hard Aces has taken some time to adapt to his new barn.
He finished fourth, 6 ¼ lengths behind Shared Belief in the Santa Anita Handicap (to be fair, runner-up Moreno was 4 ¼ lengths behind Shared Belief), his first start for the barn. He had a really bad run in the Oaklawn Handicap when he finished 12 ¾ lengths behind Race Day, but in his last two starts he seems to have figured out the training program.
Finishing behind fellow Gold Cup contenders Catch a Flight and Moreno in the Californian Stakes, Hard Aces was no closer than 5 ¾ lengths off the leader throughout the race but closed from fifth to third in the last 1/8-mile of the race. That set him up well for the Gold Cup.
Hard Aces was last at the first call of the race and contently rated in second last during the next two calls, as far back as 16 ½ lengths off the leading Big Cazanova. Hard Aces moved to mid-pack in the far turn behind the front pack but by the stretch he was fighting for the lead. Hard Aces put Catch a Flight away but the closer turned into the chased in the stretch as Hard Aces had to fend off Hoppertunity, who was closing down the middle of the track.
The finish was a nail biter, but Hard Aces held on by a slim nose to win his first Grade 1 and take home a $300,000 check. He earned a surprising 96 speed figure for his victory, his second-lowest speed figure in a stakes race.
“He’s improving. Every race, he’s getting better and better. When he was back east he wasn’t quite there but in his last race he ran good and today he ran great,” said Victor Espinoza, who was aboard for the race.
2015 GOLD CUP AT SANTA ANITA

Video courtesy of Breeders’ Cup World Championships
While Hard Aces spent a few races closer to the front earlier in his career, he’s definitely a closer type. This leaves him vulnerable because he needs a faster pace to really set up a successful race for him. However, it also allows him to avoid the sizzling pace if a few front runners hook up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Right now, we know that another Win and You’re In horse (Noble Bird) is one who sits closer to the front so the two won’t have to worry about getting in each other’s’ way. If fellow California runner Moreno goes to the Breeders’ Cup Classic and battles with another front-runner, like last year’s Classic winner Bayern, the race could set up perfectly for closers like Hard Aces.
“This is a Win and You’re In, so right now we have two horses qualified (for the Breeders’ Cup with Talco in the Breeders’ Cup Mile), so we’re going to enjoy these races and kind of move forward,” said trainer John Sadler. “We won the Shoemaker (Mile), the Summertime Oaks last weekend (June 20) and now the Gold Cup, so it’s an unbelievable run we’ve had. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Pedigree
When winning the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Hard Aces proved that he can handle the 1 ¼ miles of the Breeders’ Cup Classic but his sire should add some extra confidence. Hard Spun was second in the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic behind Street Sense and Curlin respectively so those who beat him out were obviously high-class horses.
As a sire, Hard Spun has been a hit with four crops of foals aged 3 years and older and 40 stakes winners from 543 foals to race and 33 others who have placed in stakes races. He is the sire of the U.S. champion Questing who won the Alabama at 1 ¼ miles on dirt, Arlington Million winner Hardest Core and Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong, showing that he is a good source of stamina while also giving his offspring enough speed to win at the top level.
Hard Aces’ female family includes a lot of sprinting power but not a ton of stamina. His dam All In With Aces won at five and six furlongs and has produced three winners from three foals to race with both Hard Aces and one of his siblings able to win at a mile or more.
All In With Aces is out of the stakes winning Aces who was a classy sprinter type, winning the 5 ½-furlong Astoria Stakes. She produced the stakes-placed Bank President but other than Hard Aces, her biggest success as a broodmare probably comes in the form of Scandinavian champion Aces Star.
Hard Aces has one stakes winner and a few other stakes-placed horses under his third and fourth dams but he has far and away achieved the most of any horse in his family.
Hard Aces has proven that he can win at 1 ¼ miles but there are a few questions that remain about him. Getting his first Grade 1 win was a big step for the horse but it remains to be seen what he does from here in races like the Pacific Classic later this year.