Endorsed, a half brother to Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Cody's Wish, unleashed a powerful stretch rally under Luis Saez and won the $150,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3) by 2 3/4 lengths Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The 7-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro was winning his first graded stakes and tallied for the second successive time on the turf course the Hallandale Beach, Fla. track, entering off an allowance-optional claiming win three Dec. 22.
Owned by Mark D. Breen, Endorsed is trained by Mike Maker, who overall won three races on Saturday's card, including the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) with Atone and the $150,000 William L. McKnight (G3) with Red Knight.
Settled in midpack as Picking Up Pennies set the early fractions. Endorsed swung eight wide into the lane and responded willing when called upon. Closing ground with determination, he spurted past the front-runners in the final furlongs and drew clear for the win.
Octance was second after leading in early stretch, and Dean Delivers was third in the field of 12 older runners.
Endorsed covered one mile in 1:35.67 on a fast track and improved his record to 6-8-5 from 33 career starts and earnings of $837,593. He returned $11.80 for the victory.
Bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, Endorsed was produced by Grade 1 winner Dance Card, by Tapit.
The post Endorsed Draws Off For Comfortable Fred W. Hooper Score appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
