Unraced since his victory in the October 31 Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile Turf (G1), Hootenanny (Quality Road) effortlessly disposed of three
rivals in Saturday’s
4TH race at Keeneland, and now sets his sights on loftier
targets.
The Wesley Ward pupil holds an eye-catching entry in the
May 2 Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) at Newmarket, but his Coolmore ownership
already has an embarrassment of Ballydoyle riches for the mile classic. Ward
later confirmed to Alan Carasso of TDN that his likeliest port of call is the
June 19 Commonwealth Cup (Eng-G1), the newly created sprint for sophomores at
Royal Ascot.
That also represents a more straightforward progression
from Saturday’s 5 1/2-furlong turf dash. Allowing Bottle Rocket (Intense Focus) to
lead on sufferance early, the 1-10 favorite readily took command in the lane and
won unextended by 6 1/4 lengths.
Hootenanny clocked 1:03 4/5 on the good course and gave
Ward his 100th winner at Keeneland. Also victorious in last summer’s Windsor
Castle at Royal Ascot and runner-up in the Prix Morny (Fr-G1) at Deauville,
Hootenanny has compiled a mark of 6-4-1-1, $793,095.
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