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Grade 1-Winning Sprinter Hog Creek Hustle To Try Grass At Ellis Park

Hog Creek Hustle will have a homecoming of sorts when the 4-year-old colt runs in Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile at the RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park.

Something Special Racing's Hog Creek Hustle started off his racing career with a bang two years ago at Ellis Park, rallying from near-last at five-eighths of a mile to win his debut. That proved a banner 2-year-old crop of Ellis-raced horses in 2018, with Hog Creek Hustle the next year taking Belmont Park's Woody Stephens to join Serengeti Empress (Kentucky Oaks), Knicks Go (Claiborne Breeders' Futurity) and Henley's Joy (Belmont Derby) as the winners of Grade 1 races, those designated as the best races in America. (Volatile, another current 4-year-old, didn't race at Ellis at 2 but won his career debut at the track last year and recently won Saratoga's Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt.)

“He broke his maiden there — it's going to be old-home week” at Ellis Park, said Patty Tipton, Hog Creek Hustle's co-owner who grew up in Hog Creek, Ky. and now lives in Lexington. “I hope Como's is open.”

(Yes, House of Como is open for business, though the iconic Evansville eatery just a few furlongs from Ellis Park is closed on Sundays.)

Hog Creek Hustle will try to gain his first victory since the seven-furlong Woody Stephens, which provided trainer Vickie Foley with her first Grade 1 victory. The colt has run well in most of his starts since then while tackling some of the toughest sprinters and milers in the country. That includes his nose defeat in Saratoga's Grade 1 Allen Jerkens last summer.

In search of regaining the Hog Creek karma, Foley is trying the colt on the grass for the first time in the Preview Tourist Mile. The stakes' winner gets an entry fees-paid spot in Kentucky Downs' $750,000 Tourist Mile on Sept. 7. Sunday's Preview Day features five $100,000 turf stakes that all are automatic qualifiers for the corresponding races at Kentucky Downs, for which the fields will be set Thursday. The Ellis Park stakes are funded by purse money generated at Kentucky Downs as part of an arrangement with the tracks' horsemen's group, the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association.

Hog Creek Hustle will be racing around two turns Sunday for the first time since he finished eighth in last year's Louisiana Derby, ending any Kentucky Derby aspirations that had been fueled by his second- and fourth-place finishes in a pair of earlier prep races in New Orleans. Both those graded stakes were won by War of Will, the eventual Preakness winner who several weeks ago became a Grade 1 winner on dirt and turf after taking Keeneland's Maker's Mark Mile on grass.

“We've been wanting to try him on turf,” Foley said. “I think that's a good place to try him and see how he handles it. If we're ever going to try him, this is the time…. He kind of has some high action. We're hoping he'll like it. And if he's going to like it at all, I think he'll like it at Ellis, because you don't have to be a true turf horse to run on that track.”

Tipton, one of five partners in the horse, is hoping grass does for Hog Creek Hustle what it did for War of Will in a career reboot.

“He ran right behind War of Will, and War of Will took to the turf,” she said. “We're excited to see what he can do.”

Hog Creek Hustle will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano, whose 12 victories lead the Ellis meet, with Miguel Mena second in the standings with eight.

The 130-mile ship from Churchill Downs Sunday might seem like a mere jog around the block to the well-traveled Hog Creek Hustle, who this year has left his home base to run in Florida, Arkansas and most recently New York. While the Big Apple previously was very good to the colt, that was not the case in Belmont Park's prestigious Metropolitan Mile, when he was last of eight but still lost by only a combined 6 1/2 lengths to the impressive front-runner Vekoma.

“He stumbled pretty badly out of the gate and pulled a back shoe off,” Foley said. “The jock took him to the inside, which the instructions were to stay on the outside. He still ran a good race against those kind of horses.”

Hog Creek Hustle has a 3-5-2 record in 18 starts for earnings of $638,967 along with priceless experiences for his crew.

“It's just been a very exciting adventure,” said Tipton, who with her partners purchased Hog Creek Hustle for $150,000 at Keeneland's 2017 September yearling sale. “We had no idea this horse was going to take us here. But he has. We want him to win again, because he hasn't won since the Woody Stephens. He's done really well as far as being second and third and he's been to every racetrack in America, almost. He's been a hard-knocking horse. I think this horse can run on the turf. I think he will love the mile on the turf. I think he'll be happy to be back home where he broke his maiden.”

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No Parole Going After Consecutive Grade 1 Wins In H. Allen Jerkens Memorial

A rematch featuring the superfecta of last month's Grade 1 Woody Stephens will highlight another high-caliber contest, with No Parole looking to propel his 3 ¾-length victory into more glory in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy on Whitney Day at Saratoga Race Course.

The 36th running of the H. Allen Jerkens, a seven-furlong main track sprint for 3-year-olds, is one of five stakes overall on the 12-race card and part of three Grade 1s, joining the $500,000 Personal Ensign presented by NYRA Bets for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up, and the $750,000 Whitney for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/18 miles. The Personal Ensign is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Keeneland, while the Whitney will offer the winner an all-fees paid berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic.

Carded as Race 10, the H. Allen Jerkens, formerly called the King's Bishop and renamed for the late Hall of Famer trainer known as the “Chief,” will have a post time of 6:18 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present full coverage beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

No Parole, owned by Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin, is unbeaten going one turn, registering a perfect 4-for-4 ledger in sprints. Overall, the Tom Amoss trainee has won 5-of-6 starts, including his gate-to-wire win in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens on June 20 over a fast Belmont track, earning his first triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure with an even 100.

Ahead of his first Saratoga start, No Parole worked twice over the main track, going four furlongs in 50.50 seconds on July 16 before being ramped up on July 24, when he covered the same distance in 46.42.

“He's doing well. He had a much more enthusiastic work last week, which was by design,” Amoss said. “Everything he had been doing before then was just easy. To sharpen him up, we put a good piece of work in him with a sharp half mile. He came out of it well.”

The sophomore Louisiana-bred son of Violence is unbeaten going one turn. In the Woody Stephens, he went to the front and led at every point of call, outkicking the Steve Asmussen-trained duo of Echo Town and Shoplifted, who he will face again on Saturday.

No Parole's only defeat took place in the Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn Park going a two-turn mile and a sixteenth. Amoss said his charge has continued to develop and improve from that effort, winning both of his starts.

“I think what you're seeing is just a typical development of a talented horse, if you take away the experiment of going two turns,” Amoss said.

Amoss, who is also an analyst for Saratoga Live, will have Luis Saez back aboard after the jockey piloted No Parole in the Woody Stephens in his first time aboard the colt. He will be back in the irons, breaking from post 6.

“I think he's the perfect rider for No Parole and he was my first choice when we came to Belmont and fortunately, we were able to get him,” Amoss said.

Bred by Coteau Grove Farms, No Parole is out of the stakes-placed Bluegrass Cat broodmare Plus One.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who will saddle Improbable in the Whitney in Race 9, will send out Grade 1-winner Eight Rings in the sprint contest. A debut winner last August at Del Mar, Eight Rings won a Grade 1 as a juvenile in the American Pharoah, named for Baffert's 2015 Triple Crown winner.

After running sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Santa Anita, Baffert gave the son of Empire Maker five months off. But Baffert said he might have brought back the $520,000 purchase too soon, as Eight Rings ran fifth in the six-furlong Bachelor on April 25 at Oaklawn. He has since been training at Del Mar, and Baffert said he is expecting better things as he ships to New York for the first time.

“He's doing good. I probably shouldn't have brought him back in that last one,” Baffert said. “That might have been a trainer error there. But he's doing good and we're taking a shot.”

Eight Rings is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Frederick Hertrich, III, John Golconda Stables and Coolmore Stud. Joel Rosario will be aboard from post 2.

Asmussen will saddle three contenders, with the Hall of Famer sending out Woody Stephens runner-up Echo Town and third-place Shoplifted in addition to Sonneman.

L and N Racing's Echo Town has never finished off the board in six starts, posting a 3-2-1 ledger. Making his graded stakes debut last out, the Speightstown colt stayed next-to-last in the five-horse field through six furlongs before rallying for second. He earned a 93 Beyer for the effort, marking his fourth consecutive race registering at least a 90.

Ricardo Santana, Jr., aboard for Echo Town's last five starts, will have the return engagement from post 4.

Shoplifted will return to the site of his debut win last July when he posted a 4 ½-length score. Owned by Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods, the son of Into Mischief earned graded stakes blacktype with a second-place finish to Basin in the Grade 1 Hopeful last September at the Spa.

After running out of the money in the Grade 3 Southwest and the Oaklawn Stakes in the spring at Oaklawn, the $800,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Florida Select Sale was cut back in distance and ran third in the Woody Stephens. Staying at seven furlongs, Shoplifted will have the services of jockey Tyler Gaffalione from post 7.

Courtland Farm's Sonneman made his stakes debut in his fifth career appearance last out in what turned out to be a match race with Celtic Striker in the Easy Goer on June 25 at Belmont. Scratches whittled the field down to two, with Sonneman staying one length behind at the half-mile mark before Celtic Striker pulled away for a 19 ¾-length romp.

After posting two wins and two runner-ups in his first four starts, the Curlin colt will get another opportunity at stakes action, drawing post 3 with Jose Lezcano aboard.

Live Oak Plantation's Tap It to Win will make his first start since running in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20. Trained by Mark Casse, Tap It to Win broke his maiden at Saratoga last August and won his first two starts to his sophomore campaign before being stretched out in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Tap It to Win is 2-for-2 in dirt sprints in his career and will try to extend that mark on Saturday.

“We're excited to get him back out there in the Jerkens,” Casse said. “His one race at Saratoga was extremely good in a sprint. We're hoping that going back there, he shows what he did last year.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who has won this race four times, including last year aboard Mind Control, will ride from post 11.

Mischevious Alex, a two-time graded stakes-winner for Cash is King and LC Racing, ran fourth in the Woody Stephens to break a three-race winning streak. Conditioned by John Servis, Mischevious Alex won the Grade 3 Swale in February at Gulfstream Park and followed with a two-length victory in the Grade 3 Gotham in March at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride, breaking from post 5.

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart will send out New York-bred Captain Bombastic, the last-out winner against state breds in the Mike Lee, who carries a 3-2-1 record into his first graded stakes appearance. He picks up the services of Hall of Famer Javier Castellano for the first time, drawing post 10.

His stablemate, Three Technique, has two wins and three-runner up finishes in six starts with his only off-the-board finish last out when fourth in the Grade 2 Rebel in March on a sloppy and sealed Oaklawn track. Jose Ortiz will depart from post 8.

Rounding out the field is Liam's Pride, a last-out winner of the Gold Fever on a sloppy Belmont track on July 10, for trainer Doug O'Neill [post 9, Dylan Davis]; and Hopeful Treasure, conditioned by Michael Pino, who will make his first start against graded stakes company [post 1, Manny Franco].

For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Cut Back To Seven Furlongs, No Parole Takes Them All The Way In Woody Stephens

Maggi Moss' Louisiana-bred 3-year-old No Parole absolutely dominated state-bred competition in his first three starts, leading to Triple Crown hopes for the son of Violence. A failed experiment in the G2 Rebel quickly convinced trainer Tom Amoss that the colt preferred shorter distances, and No Parole rebounded with a six-furlong allowance score at Oaklawn in his next start.

That victory convinced Amoss to try sprinting the colt against Grade 1 company, and this time the experiment was successful. On Saturday, No Parole led the field from gate-to-wire to win the G1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park, completing seven furlongs over the fast main track in 1:21.41. Ridden by Luis Saez, the 3-1 chance No Parole defeated runner-up Echo Town by about four lengths.

No Parole broke well from the rail and immediately took up a one-length lead over his four rivals, settling in for fractions of :22.31 and :45.01. Post-time favorite Meru (2-1) chased from second, while Mischevious Alex, Echo Town, and Shoplifted all maintained relatively close order up the backstretch.

Mischevious Alex moved up to second around the far turn, and Shoplifted made a three-wide move from the rear of the field to threaten as well. Meanwhile, Echo Town moved up the rail to put himself in contention heading into the lane.

Saez shook the reins at No Parole and despite never changing leads, the colt pulled away toward the wire for an easy victory. Echo Town kept grinding at the rail to get up for second, while Shoplifted held third over Mischevious Alex. Favorite Meru finished last.

Bred in Louisiana by Coteau Grove Farms, No Parole is out of the stakes-winning Bluegrass Cat mare Plus One. Moss paid $75,000 for the colt as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale, and in his first start in December of his juvenile season, No Parole won by 14 1/4 lengths. His second start was similar, winning a first-level allowance at the Fair Grounds by 13 1/4 lengths.

Amoss shipped the colt to Delta Downs to run in the Louisiana-bred Premier Night Prince Stakes over a mile, and he won by 6 1/2 lengths at the finish. After his eighth-place effort in the Rebel, No Parole won an allowance at Oaklawn by 2 3/4 lengths.

Overall, No Parole's record stands at five wins from six starts, with earnings of $300,000.

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Violence Colt Takes No Prisoners in Woody Stephens

NO PAROLE (c, 3, Violence–Plus One, by Bluegrass Cat) went wire-to-wire to score his first Grade I win in the Woody Stephens S. Saturday at Belmont. Given a 3-1 chance for this step up in class, the LA-bred broke sharply from his rail draw and went straight to the front, clicking off an opening quarter in :22.1. Registering a half in :45.01, the bay was on cruise control in the lane, coasting home to a decisive victory in 1:21.41. Winning his first three starts in state-bred company by a combined 34 lengths, No Parole was well-beaten when trying two turns in the GII Rebel S. Mar. 14 and returned to winning ways when cut back to six panels in an Oaklawn optional claimer Apr. 24. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-0.

O-Maggi Moss & Greg Tramontin; B-Coteau Grove Farm (LA); T-Tom Amoss.

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