Battling to the wire to take the victory by a neck. (JennyPhoto/Past The Wire)
By Maribeth Kalinich
LEXINGTON, Ky.— Nathan Hayden’s homebred Here Mi Song put in a roaring effort to come from behind to win the $300,000 Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland Race Course on Toyota Blue Grass Day for trainer William Stinson, Jr.
Breaking a step slow, Here Mi Song with Alex Achard up was way back as the leader Run Classic and Rely Guitierez set an opening quarter of 22.89. Long Range Toddy with Junior Alvarado aboard was in second with Pro Oxidant under Core Lanery in third and Hoist The Gold in fourth.
Achard moved Here Mi Song up to fourth as they laid off of the pace four wide as Run Classic, still the leader, set a half of 46.50.
Here Mi Song gained around the turn to bid for the lead at the five sixteenths pole as he sparred with Hoist The Gold in moving up from third. Long Range Toddy began to fade in the stretch with eventual third place Get Her Number with Joel Rosario passing Nakatomi under Tyler Gaffalione moving back to fourth.
Run Classic would fade to fifth with Pro Oxidant in sixth. Heart Rhythm, Spankster, Long Range Toddy and Legionnaire complete the order of finish.
The final time on the seven furlongs was 1:11.02
Long-shot Here Mi Song rewarded the faithful with $25.60, 11.54 for place and $6.92 for show. Hoist the Gold also handed out some treasure at $9.16 and 5.30 while Get Her Number’s number was $4.48.
By Cross Traffic, Her Mi Song is out of the Dehere mare Mi Viera and was bred in Kentucky.
The 5-year-old gray colt was second in the Forego Stakes at Turfway on February 4 and now has a career record of 5 wins from 19 starts with 7 seconds, 1 third and $563,193 in earnings.
Quotes for the $300,000 Commonwealth (G3)
Billy Stinson Jr. (winning trainer of Here Mi Song): “It’s unbelievable. It hasn’t sunk in yet. We knew he was capable; I mean, he runs every time. He’s just a nice horse. You’re always worried when you’re running against these kind of horses until you cross the wire. It’s a good day – a good day.”
On where this victory, his first stakes win, ranks in his career: “It’s the top. It’s pretty cool.”
Alex Achard (winning rider): “He broke well but couldn’t really keep up with the pace (in the early going), and I was fine with that. Then he dragged me close up to the lead faster than I thought, and I was a bit worried turning for home because I was close up, but he just surprises us all the time. He’s great.”
Brian Hernandez Jr. (rider of runner-up Hoist the Gold): “From the one hole we were actually able to work out a great trip – were able to get out. They went slow in front of us. Turning for home, the horse on the outside (winner Here Mi Song) kind of got the jump on us, but I thought I was going to be able to outgrind him. The winner ran a great race.”
Joel Rosario (rider of third-place finisher Get Her Number): “He kind of came out of the gate a little slow. After that we had a decent spot on the inside. It looked like the horse in front would come back. He put in a good effort in the end.”
Rey Gutierrez (rider of beaten favorite and fifth-place finisher Run Classic): “We got the trip that we expected going into the race. We were where we wanted to be. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t what we wanted. No complaints on the trip. He ran his best race ever going seven furlongs. We assumed if we cut him back (in distance), he would keep going on with that. I’ve got no excuses for him, and he’s got no excuses for me.”
