The Hughes- $100.000 Purse
AQU- For Four Year Olds and Upward Foaled in NY
Six Furlongs on the Inner Dirt
February 15, 2016

It won’t be just another Monday at the Big A this week as President’s Day gives us the eighth running of the Hughes Stakes, a six furlong event for older New Yorkers.  The race has had a unique history as there have been two separate dead heats in the previous seven editions.  Nevermind, that’s not exactly a rarity in our virtual world, but still those dead heats took place in 2012 and 2014.  So, maybe we are due for another one.  There is a horse that has made his presence felt in his stake, a gelding by the name of Honor King who was part of the 2014 dead heat, and then won the race outright in 2015.  Alegria and Hambletonian Stable have been the happy trainers in those races.  Honor King will not be here this year, as he was recently seen in an open allowance at GG.   A field of six will go to post for this year’s race, and it is good to see that many of these have been regular participants in New York bred racing.  It’s something that is a positive for statebred racing as a whole within our virtual world.  Let us meet our field!

#1- Military Art (Oval Express Farms, ridden by A S Arroyo)- This is the only entry in the field who has not yet participated in a NY-bred stake, although he has stake experience.  Two races ago, he ran in the $100.000 Lafayette , but would be a non-factor.  Later that day, much like we saw Nakamura Stables do with Rising Light after the Jerome, Military Art was gelded.  And like Rising Light in the El Camino, Military Art impressively won his next start, and allowance at GP in an eye-opening race time, getting a 98 SRF.  Was it an overdue geld that will unlock more potential out of this horse?  We’ll get that answer with how he runs here.

#2- St Paddy Day (Miata Farm, ridden by M Luzzi)- The trainer is off to a slow start in 2016, with just one win in 91 starts this year as of press time.  But if St Paddy Day came a month early with a win in this race, then things may start to turn around for the better. This eight year old horse has spent his last nine races running in NY-bred events, most of which have been optional claimers, although he did partake in the $50.000 Reed Memorial at FL, and would finish third in that one. Some of his better SRF figures have been when he was going longer distances, and he’ll have to get back to where he was over the summer to have a shot here.

#3- Mucho Yep (Yankee Doodle Stable, ridden by J Alvarado)- So far, this trainer has only participated in one race, but certainly seems to be looking to make their presence felt within the game if you look at some of their recent purchases, many of which have been from La Canada Racehorses.   Mucho Yep is one of them, bought for $55.000 in late January after a successful 2015 that saw him win five of twelve races.  He has taken place in a few stakes so far, including a pair of NY Stallion Series events, but so far that stake win has been elusive. I do like the way he ran two starts ago in particular, and if that run can be duplicated here, then he has a great chance to be the first stake winner for this new trainer.

#4- Dojea (Night Rider Stables, ridden by C H Velasquez)- This five year old Swarley gelding has certainly had a great career, and is a four time winner of NY-bred stakes over the course of his career.  Unfortunately, those four wins encompass a timeframe from October 2013 until November 2014.   Since winning the 2014 Thunder Rumble, Dojea has only one win to his credit since.   This could be looked at from a couple different vantage points, as the trainer has placed Dojea in more challenging races, such as the $300.000 Empire Classic this past October, and he did just finish second in the 2015 Thunder Rumble, as well.  Is he due?  Looking at this field, I think he is.  Dojea is still in good form, and he may really like this cutback in distance.  He hasn’t gone less then seven furlongs since May 2013 but this may just be what the doctor ordered.

#5- Clear Blue (Captinj, ridden by Jam Rodriguez)- Simply looking at Clear Blue’s past performances can be really refreshing to see that statebred racing can be alive and well within our virtual world.  This four year old has eight starts to his credit thus far, and all of them have been within the Empire State.  Two of them have ended up in victories, most recently an N1X allowance at BEL two starts ago.  In his most recent trip to the track, he made his stake debut in the $150.000 Hudson also at BEL and was second of six.  He’s shown improvement in his last two, so if he stays on the track, he will be a threat in this one.

#6- Yes Its True (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J Bisono)- This five year old Crown Quest horse has truly been a gritty racehorse, as he gets set to make his 27th career start, and he’s making his second start in the Hughes.  He ran third in the 2015 edition.   Of his five career wins, one of them is a NY-bred stake victory, but much like Dojea, that seems like an awful long time ago, coming in April 2014.  Yes Its True won one out of ten starts in 2015, and kicked this year off already with a seventh place run in the SSM Turf.   He’s also been racing longer distances lately, and should like this cut back to six furlongs.  This race may come down to this two older standouts of NY-bred stakes of the past.

Prediction: 4-1-6-3

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded