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Hit The Road Rallies To Win the Kilroe Mile

Hit the Road (More Than Ready) struck a blow for the locals, parlaying a perfect trip into a stirring short-neck victory in Saturday's GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. at Santa Anita.

Drawn in gate two with the visiting Florent Geroux in the irons, Hit the Road found the perfect spot in the box seat, as Flying Scotsman (English Channel) sped across from his outside barrier to supplant favored Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute). The pace was sensible through the middle stages, with positions largely unchanged, and Hit the Road appeared to be in some bother nearing the quarter pole, as Flavius (War Front) kept him in for a time.

Smooth Like Strait had first run and the race was there for the taking if good enough, but Hit the Road, off at odds of 4-1, sliced through at the rail and fought on bravely to post a narrow victory. Count Again (Awesome Again) came from a share of last to be third with a flying finish.

Hit the Road is the first Grade I in the career of 38-year-old trainer Dan Blacker.

“I was pretty anxious, but I thought if he can get through, he's got a good chance,” Blacker said. “Luckily, 'Flo' found a gap and he just proved that he's the best today. I gave myself 10 years to win a Grade I and luckily we got it done in year nine. I don't want to make this about me. It's all about the horse, he's such a professional animal–he is a true racehorse. He was born that way. He's just a true athlete and so mentally focused on racing. I just feel so fortunate to have him and with a great group of owners. Being with me for such a long time, they've been so patient, and I'm just really thrilled for them all to get a win like this.”

Hit the Road, an impressive last-to-first winner of the Zuma Beach S. over course and distance at two, entered the Kilroe Mile riding a three-race winning streak. Two-for-two in an abbreviated 3-year-old campaign, including Del Mar's Runhappy Oceanside S., Hit the Road fired fresh off the bench with a sharp tally in the local GIII Thunder Road S. Feb. 6.

Pedigree Notes:

Hit the Road is the 26th worldwide top-level winner for the sensational dual-hemisphere stallion More Than Ready and 12th Grade I winner in North America. Hit the Road is bred on the wildly successful cross over Danzig-line mares-predominantly through Danehill-that has been responsible for the likes of top-level scorers Sebring (Aus), Prized Icon (Aus), Perfectly Ready (Aus), More Than Sacred (Aus) in Australia, to name only a few, and Uni (GB) in the United States.

Hit the Road is the first foal out of unraced Highway Mary (U S Ranger). The 8-year-old mare subsequently produced a filly by Quality Road, that died the following season, during which she
was barren. She had an Arrogate filly in 2020 and has a foal filly by American Pharoah. The winner's second dam is Grade II winner Wandering Star, dam of G1 Dewhurst S. hero War Command (War Front), Group 3 scorer Naval Officer (Tale of the Cat) and Wonder Woman (Storm Cat), responsible for a pair of black-type winners and four black-type performers.

Highway Mary brought €100,000 from agent Justin Casse at the 2015 ARQDEC sale.

Saturday, Santa Anita
FRANK E. KILROE MILE S.-GI, $402,500, Santa Anita, 3-6, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:34.48, fm.
1–HIT THE ROAD, 122, c, 4, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Highway Mary, by U S Ranger
                2nd Dam: Wandering Star, by Red Ransom
                3rd Dam: Beautiful Bedouin, by His Majesty
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-D K
Racing, LLC, Radley Equine, Inc., Taste of Victory Stables, Gold,
Rick, Maslowski, Tony E. and Odmark, Dave; B-Fred Hertrich
(KY); T-Dan Blacker; J-Florent Geroux. $240,000. Lifetime
Record: 9-6-0-0, $494,751. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Smooth Like Strait, 122, c, 4, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy. $80,000.
3–Count Again, 122, g, 6, Awesome Again–Count to Three, by
Red Ransom. O-Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm;
B-Sam-Son Farm (ON); T-Philip D'Amato. $48,000.
Margins: NK, NK, HF. Odds: 4.20, 2.80, 16.30.
Also Ran: Flavius, Royal Ship (Brz), Casa Creed, Ride a Comet, Spirit Animal, Flying Scotsman, Social Paranoia. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Will Take Charge’s Will’s Secret Creates More ‘Buzz’ In Honeybee

Will's Secret added her third consecutive victory, while adding 50 qualifying points to the GI Kentucky Oaks, in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn Park. Sent off the 2-1 choice, the dark bay rushed up to contend with the Ken McPeek-trained duo of Tabor Hall (Candy Ride {Arg}), breaking from the inside, and Oliviaofthedesert (Bernardini), who settled in the three path around the first turn, while 'TDN Rising Star' Sun Path drafted behind the leading trio. Eagerly taking the advantage following a half in :24.25, Will's Secret was again headed by Tabor Hall following a half in :49.70. Her rival's lead didn't last long, however, and Will's Secret returned to the front exiting the far turn as Sun Path loomed large on her outside flank. In front turning for home, Will's Secret dispensed of the tiring Tabor Hall, and while Sun Path took her best shot to her outside, it was Will's Secret who held the edge late, winning by 3/4 of a length over the rail-skimming Pauline's Pearl, who was up in time to best Sun Path by 3/4 of a length.

“She broke really well today and we weren't pressured early on,” winning jockey Jon Court said. “She was comfortable on the front end and able to dictate a moderate, easy pace. I was able to have plenty of horse to finish with and when I called on her, she was full of run down the stretch.”

“It was a great ride,” said winning trainer Dallas Stewart. “She loves that track. She showed a little more versatility, that she can be on the lead and finish it off and that's really good to have in a racehorse. I just told [jockey Jon Court] to stay out of her mouth, let her break away from there and get around that first turn. I think that's important at Oaklawn. You've got to get around that first turn and be in good shape. Looks like we've got that down. She just coasted home from there.”

Will's Secret hit the board in two of her first three trips to post, including the most recent a third-place finish behind Clairiere (Curlin) at Churchill Downs Oct. 25. The Willis Horton homebred returned with a 2 3/4-length score in an off-turf test at Fair Grounds Dec. 20 before airing by 5 1/4 lengths in a muddy renewal of the one-mile Martha Washington S. at the Hot Springs oval Jan. 30.

Pedigree Notes:
Will's Secret is the second graded winner for the D. Wayne Lukas-trained 2013 Champion 3-year-old colt Will Take Charge, who was also campaigned by Willis Horton. The winner's dam, Girls Secret, was purchased by Horton for $375,000 at Keeneland November in 2016 after winning once in seven tries for trainer Anthony Dutrow. The first foal out the Giant's Causeway mare, Will's Secret has a juvenile full-brother as well as a yearling half-brother by Hard Spun. Girls Secret was bred back to Hard Spun.

Saturday, Oaklawn
HONEYBEE S.-GIII, $300,000, Oaklawn, 3-6, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.61, ft.
1–WILL'S SECRET, 122, f, 3, by Will Take Charge
1st Dam: Girls Secret, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Well Monied, by Maria's Mon
3rd Dam: Queen of America, by Quiet American
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Willis Horton Racing LLC (KY);
T-Dallas Stewart; J-Jon Kenton Court. $180,000. Lifetime
Record: 6-3-0-2, $343,300. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Pauline's Pearl, 117, f, 3, Tapit–Hot Dixie Chick, by Dixie
Union. O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $60,000.
3–Sun Path, 117, f, 3, Munnings–Touch the Star, by Tapit.
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $30,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, 5 3/4. Odds: 2.10, 18.90, 2.90.
Also Ran: Oliviaofthedesert, Coach, Tabor Hall, Willful Woman. Scratched: Absolute Anna.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Helium Returns Big ‘Balloons’ In Tampa Bay Derby Upset

D J Stable LLC's Helium (Ironicus) overcame an impossibly wide trip and gamely fended off a late charge from the well-backed Hidden Stash (Constitution) to upset Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby by three-quarters of a length while making his dirt and two-turn debuts.

Perfect in two starts going seven furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic last year, including a 4 1/4-length success in the Display S. when last seen Oct. 18, the $55,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling graduate's worktab included a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 (1/8) at Palm Meadows Feb. 3.

Helium was slow into stride from a wide gate and was left no choice but to take the first turn in about the six path while racing with just two rivals behind. Five or six paths off the inside down the backstretch, Helium went for an early run with about a half-mile to run, but continued to be trapped off the track, as favored GIII Sam F. Davis S. winner Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) was moving simultaneously underneath him.

Consigned to a five-deep trip around the second turn, Helium nevertheless gained steadily on the leaders, was shifted down to the inside when making the lead in upper stretch and managed to hold sway late.

Hidden Stash, a closing third to Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis, looked to have Helium at his mercy at the sixteenth pole, but was swatted away late and settled for second.

Candy Man Rocket was out of gas by the top of the stretch and tired to 11th.

“Our biggest concern going into the race was not only the competition, but also the distance, because he had never gone further than seven furlongs,” said DJ Stables Racing Manager Jon Green. “We were also concerned about the surface, because he had only run on the Tapeta at Woodbine. So we felt like he had three things he had to accomplish today–not only to beat the top horses in the race, but also overcome the two turns, the surface, and the layoff. So for him to accomplish what he did today by holding off a very nice horse in Hidden Stash, made us very excited for his future.”

Green added, “As of now, we're unsure as to his next start. We're going to analyze where the competition is going and decide what would be his best spot.”

Helium is not currently nominated to the Triple Crown, but will be supplemented for $6,000 at the next deadline at the end of March, said Green. “He has certainly punched his ticket.”

Helium was purchased privately last March as a 2-year-old from Bo Hunt. “The horse industry certainly works in mysterious ways,” said Green. “If it weren't for COVID, we never would have been able to buy this horse. We bought him privately because we weren't sure what was going to happen with the sales.”

Green said, “I really want to give Mark Casse tremendous credit for being able to be flexible with this horse and pivoting as many times as we did with him before landing on the Tampa Bay Derby in his 3-year-old debut.”

Casse said, “He trained well enough that we thought he deserved a chance. Again, I have to give so much credit to Nick Tomlinson who had him down at Palm Meadows for us. We had thought about running in the Gotham and thought, if we're going to try the dirt, let's run him close to home. It worked well for us.

Casse continued, “This horse is something because he got away a little slow today and we had planned on him being closer. He made that big wide run, he made the lead but [after Hidden Stash rallied] I was going to be happy with second. I thought, we can build on this, because this is only his third start and there is a lot of room for improvement. What was amazing is that he wasn't overly exhausted after the race. He's a beautiful horse, he's bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it's exciting.”

Winning rider Jose Ferrer added, “On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and when I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plemty of horse and be re-broke again.”

Pedigree Notes:

Helium hails from the first crop of Ironicus. He became the first stakes winner for the young Claiborne sire after securing last term's Display and is also his first graded winner. This is the 46th graded winner for Thunder Gulch as a broodmare sire.

Thundering Emilia, a $15,000 KEESEP yearling graduate, carried Teneri Farms' colors to a win in Delaware's John W. Rooney Memorial S. She was also a GSW & G1SP in Peru.

Progeny in the pipeline for Thundering Emilia include the 2-year-old colt Thunder Stride (Classic Empire) and a yearling colt by Accelerate. She was bred to American Pharoah for 2021.

Winning owner DJ Stable bought Helium's 6-year-old GSP half-sister Mighty Scarlett (Scat Daddy) for $240,000 at the 2020 KEENOV Sale.

This is the family of Peruvian champions Valiant Emilia (Per) and Domingo.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM SOUTH TAMPA BAY DERBY-GII, $350,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-6, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.55, ft.
1–HELIUM, 117, c, 3, by Ironicus
1st Dam: Thundering Emilia (GSW & G1SP-Per,
SW-USA, $140,963), by Thunder Gulch
2nd Dam: Saint Emilia (Per), by Saint Ballado
3rd Dam: Proud Emilia, by Proud Appeal
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($55,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT). O-D. J.
Stable LLC; B-Teneri Farm Inc & Bernardo Alvarez Calderon
(KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Jose C. Ferrer. $210,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-3-0-0, $287,763. *1/2 to Mighty Scarlett (Scat
Daddy), GSP, $225,860; Emilia's Moon (Malibu Moon),
G1SW-Per. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hidden Stash, 117, c, 3, Constitution–Making Mark Money,
by Smart Strike. ($50,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-BBN Racing, LLC;
B-Rhineshire Farm LLC (KY); T-Victoria H. Oliver. $70,000.
3–Moonlite Strike, 117, c, 3, Liam's Map–Twinkling, by War
Chant. ($45,000 RNA Wlg '18 KEENOV; $120,000 Ylg '19
KEESEP; $145,000 RNA 2yo '20 OBSMAR; $77,000 RNA 2yo '20
OBSOPN). O-Sonata Stable; B-Brushy Hill, LLC (KY); T-Saffie A.
Joseph, Jr. $35,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 15.40, 3.10, 34.60.
Also Ran: Unbridled Honor, King of Dreams, Awesome Gerry, Sittin On Go, Boca Boy, My Liberty, Super Strong, Candy Man Rocket, Promise Keeper.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Search Results Outslugs Miss Brazil In Busher

Search Results (Flatter) gave her sire a second 3-year-old stakes winner Saturday, outgaming pacesetting Miss Brazil (Palace Malice) in the final furlong to take Saturday's $250,000 Busher S. at Aqueduct and earning 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks in the process.

Sent off an easy-in-the market 2-1 second favorite after touching 3-2 early on, Search Results was put into the race by Javier Castellano and took up pace-pressing duties from second as Miss Brazil led them along through controlled splits of :24.53 and :49.64. The duo raced side-by side past the quarter-pole, as they began to get away from their four rivals and clearly had the race between them as they entered the final eighth of a mile. Shoulder to shoulder into the last half-furlong, Miss Brazil dug in determinedly, but Search Results–racing on her incorrect lead–was in for the fight and was up in the final couple of strides to take it by a half to three-quarters of a length. The winner's stablemate The Grass Is Blue (Broken Vow) was third.

“She put me in a good position to rate and I didn't want to take that away from her and take her back,” said Castellano. “When I asked her, she didn't switch leads, but everything I asked for, she gave it to me. She responded. I like the way she galloped out and I think she's going to be a good filly in the future. Two turns will be even better.”

Search Results, whose sire was also represented by Listed Al Bastakiya S. winner Panadol at Meydan in Dubai Saturday morning, was stepping straight into stakes company off a four-length debut success sprinting six furlongs at Gulfstream Jan. 3.

From the family of the GI/G1SW Mind Your Biscuits (Posse), Search Results has a 2-year-old full-sister and her dam was bred to Nyquist after missing to Flatter's champion son West Coast for 2020. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

BUSHER INVITATIONAL S., $250,000, Aqueduct, 3-6, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:39.75, ft.
1–SEARCH RESULTS, 118, f, 3, by Flatter
1st Dam: Co Cola (GSP), by Candy Ride (Arg)
2nd Dam: Yong Musician, by Yonaguska
3rd Dam: Alljazz, by Stop the Music
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. ($310,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables Inc; B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Chad C Brown; J-Javier Castellano. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $161,500.
2–Miss Brazil, 120, f, 3, Palace Malice–Baytree, by Forestry. ($170,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Team D & Madaket Stables LLC; B-Haymarket Farm LLC (KY); T-Anthony W Dutrow. $50,000.
3–The Grass Is Blue, 120, f, 3, Broken Vow–Shine Softly, by Aldebaran. ($20,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Louis Lazzinnaro LLC; B-Phillips Racing Partnership (KY); T-Chad C Brown. $30,000.
Margins: HF, 5 3/4, HF. Odds: 2.15, 1.90, 6.20.
Also Ran: Laobanonaprayer, Make Mischief, Mo Desserts.

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