Henro victorious in the Harrods Creek (Coady Media)
For information on Past The Wire’s annual Breeders’ Cup Seminar, the very best in the game CLICK HERE
Churchill Downs Press Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – JD Thoroughbreds and Joey Keith Davis’ Henro kicked clear late and held off a closing challenge from Jefferson Street to win Saturday’s 4th running of the $295,000 Harrods Creek at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Chris Hartman and ridden by Rafael Bejarano, the 3-year-old chestnut gelding completed seven furlongs in a strong 1:21.84.
The early pace of the Harrods Creek was set by Valentine Candy, who showed good speed out of the gate and took the lead heading onto the main track but was immediately pressured to his outside by Illuminare. As the field of 3-year-olds settled up the backstretch after a quarter-mile in :22.74, Dilger began to make a three-wide bid. The trio battled across the track at the top of the stretch, with Bejarano tipping Henro in the four-path down the center of the track.
At the eighth-pole, Henro found another gear, drawing clear to the wire while holding off the late-closing Jefferson Street by 1 ¼ lengths. Dilger finished third, followed by Illuminaire, Valentine Candy and Willy D’s.
“This horse has so much class all the time and was training really well heading into the race,” Bejarano said. “He’s a fun horse to ride and loves it here at Churchill Downs. He was covered up very well and had a good plan to settle off the pace. I was full of horse and wanted to make sure to get in the clear.”
Hartman was equally pleased with the decision to run his trainee at Churchill.
“We actually had him entered on the turf at Kentucky Downs but we took him out of there and opted to run here,” Hartman said. “It worked out perfectly. I think we’ll have some fun with him down the road.”
With this victory, Henro improved his lifetime record to 8-4-1-0 and boosted his career earnings to $545,889.
Sent off at odds of nearly 6-1, Henro returned mutuel payouts of $13.94, $5.90, and $3.90. Jefferson Street paid $4.28 and $3.08 for second, while Dilger returned $4.08 for third.
Henro, a chestnut gelded son of Collected out of the Street Cry (IRE) mare Street Minstrel, was bred in Kentucky by the late Brereton C. Jones.
