Eight-year-old Hogy will make his 46th career start on Saturday in the $200,000 G2 Woodford Stakes, a 5½ furlong turf sprint, the fifth race on a 10-race program at Keeneland.
Hogy will be seeking his 18th win in a career that has taken him to 15 tracks. He has been victorious at nine of them, including once at Canterbury Park, winning in sprints, routes, on the turf, in the mud, over the poly. Graded stakes, allowances, claiming races. Two times he did run for a tag, in both instances for $80,000, he was claimed. Hogy has hit the board 34 times and earned more than $1.1 million.
He shipped to Shakopee for trainer Joel Berndt in August of 2011, bringing with him a 2 for 2 record, with both wins on the polytrack at Arlington. His task in Shakopee was to win the $50,000 Brian Barenscheer Juvenile at 5½ furlongs on a fast dirt track. Hogy responded with a convincing 3/4 length win as the 1 to 2 favorite.
Florent Geroux was aboard that day as he was for six of Hogy’s first seven scores. But in that seventh win in the fall of 2012 he was claimed from Berndt by trainer Scott Becker and owner William Stiritz. Stiritz went on to win nine races with Hogy including the G3 Hanshin at Arlington. In August of 2017 Hogy was entered for $80,000 at Saratoga and trainer Mike Maker dropped a claim for owner Michael Hui. They took Hogy to Kentucky Downs in September and won a G3 turf sprint.
On Saturday at Keeneland, Geroux will be aboard as he has been in the past six starts after a four year absence. In all he has won eight times on Hogy and should they run well Saturday, the owner has indicated a trip to the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar for the Turf Sprint could be in order.
Hogy has tried Keeneland six times but has not found the winner’s circle. He has twice raced in the Woodford with his best finish last year where he flew from 10 lengths back, only to lose by 1/2 length to Mongolian Saturday who he must face again in this edition. Hogy is the 5 to 2 morning line favorite in the nine-horse field.
First post at Keeneland Saturday is 12:05 p.m. central with the Woodford slated for 2:25.
JM
