Hog Creek Hustle Rallies to Upset Win in Woody Stephens
Image:
Description:
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Hog Creek Hustle wins the Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park
Something Special Racing's Hog Creek Hustle, by Overanalyze , stormed through the final furlong in the $400,000 Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun (G1) June 8 at Belmont Park to win by a neck.
The Vickie Foley trainee and jockey Corey Lanerie survived a pair of late threats—a surge in the final 110 yards by an onrushing Nitrous, by Tapit , and an objection as the stewards debated whether the winner caused Mind Control to lose any chance in the lane as Hog Creek Hustle shifted in a path in upper stretch.
The pace in the Woody Stephens was frenetic as longshot Strike Silver ripped through an opening quarter-mile in :21.92 and a half-mile in :44.53. Hog Creek Hustle, bred in Kentucky by Hargus and Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm, completed the seven-furlong distance in 1:21.12.
"The seven furlongs was perfect (for him), exactly what we'd been looking for," said Foley, who earned her first grade 1 win. "I was nervous during the (inquiry). Maybe because we'd come from Kentucky to the Big Apple (as visitors). But things went our way, and I think (the stewards) did the right thing."
It was the winner's third tally from nine starts and first graded stakes victory, increasing his earnings to $440,100.
Something Special Racing became interested in the colt when co-owner Patty Tipton—favoring the mare Candy Fortune, by Candy Ride —noticed him in the catalog for the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Hog Creek Hustle was a $150,000 purchase from the Warrendale Sales consignment.
Winchell Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables' Nitrous was the runner-up. The colt is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and was reigned by Ricardo Santana Jr.
Preston Madden's Borracho, by Uncle Mo , finished third, three-quarters of a length back.