Despite never having run on
dirt, Hard Not to Like will make her main track debut among the most gifted
sophomore fillies on the continent as she contests in the Kentucky Oaks (GI). Though
she’ll have three wins to her credit as she goes to post, she will have no
graded stakes victories under her belt – just good performances in them. Despite
the fact that she may be bestowed with high odds, she certainly has a good
chance to outrun those odds.
The graceful, charcoal gray
filly is a result of a careful mating planned by owner and breeder Garland
Williamson of Hillbrook Farms, who retains ownership of Hard Not to Like’s dam,
Like a Gem – a track record setter at ten furlongs and a multiple black-type
winner. An earner of over half-a-million dollars, the Ontario-bred mare is out
of the same dam as the multiple graded stakes-placed Cool Gator and the
stakes-winning Win and Reign. A daughter of the grade one-winning Tactical Cat,
Like a Gem provides Hard Not to Like with the great Storm Cat as her grandsire.
Tactical Cat – too young to make much of an impact as a broodmare sire – is a
son of the damsire of such horses as the grade one winners Bodemeister, Dialed
In, Folklore, Sky Mesa, Speightstown, and Sidney’s Candy. Like a Gem’s own
broodmare sire is champion sprinter Rubiano, damsire of the grade one winner
Take Charge Lady, as well as the graded stakes victors Ecclesiastic, Grazen, Neko
Bay, Teammate, and War Front.
Interestingly, Hard Not to Like
comes from the same dam line as fellow Kentucky Oaks contender Summer Applause,
as Hard Not to Like’s seventh dam is the Reine De Course mare Iribelle, who
happens to be Summer Applause’s fifth dam. This forms the same line of
beautifully-bred E.P. Taylor mares, as Iribelle – a stakes-placed runner – was the
dam of the Canadian Horse of the Year, as well as Victoriana – Summer Applause’s
fifth dam – and the talented multiple stakes-winning Britannia – Hard Not to
Like’s sixth dam.
The dam of Hard Not to Like is
the flourishing young sire Hard Spun. A grade one winner who finished second in
the 2007 Kentucky Derby (GI), Hard Spun is a son of the influential sire
Danzig. Other sons of the deceased son of Northern Dancer that have gone on to
success at stud include the champion racehorse and one of the leading
international sires, Danehill, as well as the sire of champions, Dayjur. From a
strong dam line that included the dam of the champion Little Current , Hard
Spun has quickly become a successful stud, siring such horses as Saturday's Derby Trial Stakes (GIII)-winning Hierro, the group
stakes-winning Red Duke, the multiple stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed
Glinda the Good, and the stakes-winning runners Hardened Wildcat, Midnight
Transfer, and Sweet Seventeen. Hard Not to Like is currently his leading
earner.
Between Hard Spun and Like a
Gem, Hard Not to Like features 3 X 5 inbreeding to the influential Northern
Dancer. Inbreeding to this prominent son of Nearctic has appeared in the
pedigrees of several champions, including Big Brown, Orfevre, Rachel Alexandra,
and Summer Bird.
The pedigree of Hard Not to Like
implies that the filly can run on any surface and by the end of the Kentucky
Oaks, she will have done so. However, she has not yet contested over dirt – the
surface over which the Oaks is run. All of her races have come on the turf and
synthetic.
Hard Not to Like made her first
start in a six-furlong maiden special weight over the turf course at Woodbine
in Canada, sitting in a mid-pack position prior to closing to prevail by a half-length
in an impressive final time of 1:09.81. She scored another win a month later, competing
in a one-mile allowance over Woodbine’s turf oval. Racing mid-pack yet again,
the dark gray filly made a wide move around the final turn before striking to
lead and never looking back as she coasted to a 1 ¼-length victory. Yet again,
the daughter of Hard Spun posted another remarkable final time: 1:35.10 for one
mile.
Taking a step up in class, Hard
Not to Like loaded into the gate amongst a deep field of juvenile fillies. Over
the same turf course on which all of her starts had come, the Gail Cox trainee
broke from the starting gate in the Natalma Stakes (GIII) – named after E.P.
Taylor’s great dam of Northern Dancer. Finding a position far off the pace, Hard
Not to Like was forced to maneuver traffic and swing extremely wide around the
far turn. By the time she had found enough real estate to commence her move, she
seemed to have lost too much momentum and despite making a decent rally, Hard
Not to Like had to settle for fifth. While finishing behind the winners of a
combined five future graded stakes or ungraded stakes races, Hard Not to Like
defeated runners that had placed or would eventually place in a total of six
stakes races.
Making her fourth consecutive start
over Woodbine’s grass course, Hard Not to Like performed next in the Cup and
Saucer Stakes at a mile and one-sixteenth. The daughter of Hard Spun displayed
a new dimension, being forwardly placed before taking command of the lead
around the final curve. She had dig in to overthrow two other grays in the
stretch, but once she did, she coasted to a 4 ¾-length victory over Woodbine’s
soft turf. Remarkably, Hard Not to Like was the only filly in the field.
Hard Not to Like proceeded to
enter the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (GII) at Churchill Downs, facing the
past or future winners of seven group or graded stakes altogether. Racing
widest of all, Hard Not to Like ran mid-pack, though a bit closer to the lead
than she had been in her first three starts. Due to her wide trip, the gray
filly had no choice but to race near the center of the track as the field swung
into the homestretch. She rallied, but it was only enough to secure a
fifth-place finish, beaten just three lengths.
The Ontario-bred filly did not
start again for five months, making her sophomore debut in the Central Bank
Ashland Stakes (GI) at Keeneland – a race full of history. It was her first
start in a race that was not contested on a turf course, but it was on the
similar surface Polytrack. It was also her first start in a grade one race,
which is, of course, the highest level of racing. The significant race was a
tall task for a return to the races, but if there was even the slightest hope
of getting Hard Not to Like to the Kentucky Oaks, the race would set her up
well should she run a good race. With Robby Albarado aboard for the first time,
Hard Not to Like was forwardly placed as Karlovy Vary set the pace. Despite
finding room around the final turn and making an impressive rally, she could
not best Karlovy Vary and finished second by ¾ of a length.
Hard Not to Like’s remarkable
return to the races sent her on the road to the Kentucky Oaks, where she will
face the toughest field of her life. Yet, if Hard Not to Like could run that
well in such a tough race off a five-month layoff, one can only imagine how much
she has matured. Already a gifted filly, Hard Not to Like seems to be an
improving filly.
Many find it worrisome that she
has not started over dirt before, but the filly has been training well over the
dirt surface at Palm Meadows Training Center despite posting sluggish times.
However, trainer Gail Cox has expressed confidence in the
filly. In fact, he told the Daily
Racing Form, “We sort of think she’ll handle any surface.”
This still may not convince
handicappers, but it must be noted that the filly’s sire was very successful on
both dirt and synthetic, winning graded stakes races on both surfaces. He was
also effective over Churchill Downs’ main track, running a spectacular second
in the 2007 Kentucky Derby. Though Hard Not to Like’s dam, Like a Gem, found
her greatest success on the turf and synthetic, she won twice over conventional
dirt. It also must be taken into consideration that Hard Not to Like galloped
over the Churchill Downs’ dirt surface in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup
last fall.
With just one start under her
belt this year and no starts on dirt, Hard Not to Like will likely go off at
double-digit odds. Perhaps she’ll be a good play for bettors, but most of all,
it would no surprise to me to see Hard Not to Like perform very well in the Kentucky
Oaks. A classy, improving filly with a pedigree interwoven with names of
imperial Thoroughbreds, Hard Not to Like will be a significant presence on Oaks
Day.
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