No moment was more memorable at the 2014
Arlington meet than
watching the feel-good story of the year of Andrew Bentley’s gelding Hardest
Core cross the wire first in the Arlington Million over 2013 Breeders’ Cup Turf
winner Magician. It was a score for the little guy: the small stable from the
remote Pennsylvania town with an owner whose story was as heartwarming as that
of the death-defying equine athlete, himself.
The rest of the story begins on no other stage than the grandest of all in
American championship racing — the 2014 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita. Hardest
Core will train up to the race off his driving victory at Arlington on August 16
and enter 11 weeks fresh for trainer Eddie Graham. The Million victory garnered
him a ‘Win and You’re In’ qualification into the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf,
guaranteeing him not only a spot in the starting gate, but also a healthy
stipend in order to get him there.
Such luxuries might seem inconsequential to the larger, multi-million dollar
Thoroughbred conglomerates who had planned on making the trip regardless — like
the powerhouse Coolmore partners who own Magician — but such a break is a huge
deal for a meager team hoping to display the massive talent of their prized
pupil on the world stage.
The significant break following his explosive Chicagoland conquest was by
design for the four-year-old gelding.
“After his race, I just let him relax and played with him to keep him happy
and make sure he bounced out of the race well,” Graham reported. “He got a month
off and just got back to work last Monday with a work on the hill, going seven
furlongs, twice. It’s a rolling uphill gallop with a turn on it and he does it
two times. He’s doing fantastic — knock on wood — and is in full swing right
now working toward the Breeders’ Cup.
“My gut feeling — and after talking to the owners — was that it would be
good for him to come in (to Santa Anita) fresh,” Graham continued. “A lot of
those horses who ran last year at Belmont (in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic)
before going to the Breeders’ Cup didn’t bounce back that great. He ran
back-to-back this summer pretty quickly between (Parx Racing) and Delaware and
then ran back at Arlington quickly after that. We like to keep our horses fresh
and I’m glad we do because he’s doing really well.”
The unique training style has worked to perfection for the son of the Hard
Spun out of a half-sister to champion juvenile Gilded Time, who is also a
grandson of champion sprinter Housebuster. Bred to run no farther than a mile on
the dirt, he has bucked many a bloodstock agents’ logic and excelled long on the
grass, including a stakes victory in the Cape Henlopen at Delaware Park at the
Breeders’ Cup Turf’s 1 1/2-mile distance and the 1 1/4 miles of the Million —
all while looking like he could run even farther at the conclusion of each
contest.
“I pretty much train him like a steeplechase horse,” Graham explained. “He
never goes too fast in his works and just focuses more on endurance. I really
don’t put speed in my horses. I let them do things in hand and I don’t like
bullet works. He’ll stay steady for the five weeks leading up to the (Breeders’
Cup) — working on the Sundays or Mondays — including this week and he’ll work
the Sunday or Monday before the race and fly out probably on Tuesday that week.”
Speed is not in question for the rangy bay, as he successfully closed his
final quarter in the Million in approximately :23.19. Neither — for that matter
— is shipping.
“He handled shipping 13 hours to Chicago really well and flying across the
country shouldn’t be a problem,” Graham said. “The day we arrived at Arlington I
put tack on him and he seemed well and good. He’s pretty classy like that. I
think we’ll be fine. I ship a lot to the gallops with my horses and he is on the
trailer many days a week. My horses are used to shipping.”
After shipping half-way across the country and beating some of the best in
the world — including Group 1 winners from five different countries — Hardest
Core will put his name to the test against new challenges like Santa Anita’s
notoriously firm turf course and a plethora of new challenges from both American
coasts and Europe – but he will not be without the entirety of the Arlington
team — as well as many fans across the country — behind him.
“I’m not sure how he’ll handle the turf until he runs on it, but he
definitely like the grass firm and it was pretty hard when he ran on it at
Delaware and Arlington,” Graham explained. “I am not worried too much about the
competition — just trying to get my horse there — but if I had to say there is
one horse to worry about, it’s Graham Motion’s Main Sequence. I’m hoping he gets
a tough race at Belmont — he’s very talented.
“Still, I’m just concerned about my horse. I’m a little more nervous because
it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. He’s my one big horse and you just try to do
everything right leading up to the race,” Graham concluded with palpable
sincerity. “Right now we’re just trying to get the job done. He’s a special
horse.”
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com