by Mike Curry
Group 2 winner Hatta Fort (GB) closed gamely in the stretch and nipped runner-up Amazing Results by a neck in the closing strides of the $200,000 Perryville Stakes (G3) on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course.
Amazing Results surged into contention with a sweeping move into the stretch under Rene Douglas, and Hatta Fort shifted gears after jockey Julien Leparoux guided him to an opening on the inside. Hatta Fort accelerated boldly after Amazing Results seized command inside the eighth pole before the winner powered to the lead in the final yards.
Multiple stakes winner Amazing Results battled back on the outside, but Hatta Fort would not be denied and prevailed in 1:25.97 for the about seven-furlong race for three-year-olds on Keeneland’s synthetic Polytrack surface.
I’m So Lucky, sent off as the 1.30-to-1 off a third-place finish in the Netjets King’s Bishop Stakes (G1) on August 23 at Saratoga Race Course, was three-quarters of a length behind Amazing Results to finish third in the ten-horse field.
The race was marred by the breakdown of Nickel Shooter, an Exchange Rate gelding out of the Holy Bull mare Hard as Nails. Trained by Stephen Dunn, Nickel Shooter entered the Perryville on a three-race winning streak.
Grade 2 winner Eaton’s Gift set a swift pace in the Perryville through an opening quarter in :22.44 and a half-mile in :44.89, which set up ideally for horses attempting to rally from off the pace. Hatta Fort was positioned in ninth while Amazing Results raced in eighth through a half-mile, and both horses commenced their bids on the turn before dueling through the final sixteenth.
Trained by Saeed bin Suroor for owner Godolphin Racing, Hatta Fort improved to four wins in 13 career starts and boosted his earnings to $347,364 The Cape Cross (Ire) colt entered off a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Cup Sprint Stakes (G3) on September 27 at Turfway Park. The Perryville was Hatta Fort’s first stakes victory since he won the Weatherbys Superlative Stakes (Eng-G2) at Newmarket as a juvenile.
Bred in Great Britain by Wellsummers Farm, Hatta Fort is out of the winning Barathea (Ire) mare Oshiponga.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor