All eight Tremont Stakes starters came into the race undefeated in their only start, but only He Hate Me exited with win streak intact, as the Algorithms colt won the $150,000 race by 3 1/4 lengths after breaking poorly and making a wide move to overcome pacesetting Direct Dial.
“This is a really nice horse,” jockey Ricardo Santana said. “The first time he ran he broke bad, and he still won the race. He’s a class horse; this is a good horse.”
Horacio DePaz trains He Hate Me for Sagamore Farm and said the colt does not have gate issues when training in the morning.
“In his first race he didn’t leave the gate, which he’d never done in the morning; he’s really professional,” DePaz said. “That’s why we brought him back in two weeks, we’re hoping that running him will mature him.”
Direct Dial hung on for second by a nose over Admiral Jimmy. Direct Dial ran the first quarter in :22.09 before giving way to He Hate Me through a half-mile in :45.56. He Hate Me completed the 5 1/2 furlongs over the fast track in 1:04.47.
Sagamore bought He Hate Me for $90,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton July Kentucky yearling sale. DePaz said that He Hate Me would run in two-year-old stakes this summer at Saratoga.
The win marked Santana’s first stakes win at Belmont Park. A regular rider at Oaklawn Park in the winter/spring, Santana turned some heads last year at Saratoga when booting home several winners at big prices.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “I am happy to be here.”
