Hard Not to Like goes for Jenny Wiley title defense; Ben Ali attracts six

Hard Not to Like goes for Jenny Wiley title defense; Ben
Ali attracts six

Hard Not to Like is seeking her second straight Jenny Wiley score (Keeneland/Coady Photography) Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun) will try to get back to her winning ways on Saturday while going for a title defense against seven rivals in the $300,000 Jenny Wiley S. (G1) at Keeneland. The track features four stakes on the day, including the $150,000 Ben Ali S. (G3) and $100,000 Giant’s Causeway S. Hard Not to Like has actually finished first in her past three but was disqualified to second when making her six-year-old debut at Tampa Bay Downs in the January 31 Endeavour S. (G3). The gray mare was also going out for new trainer Christophe Clement for the first time, after being conditioned by Michael Matz in 2013-14 and Gail Cox in 2011-12. The trainer switch came about after Hard Not to Like sold for $1.5 million at last November’s Keeneland breeding stock sale. Prior to the sale she hadn’t competed since taking last year’s Jenny Wiley and a Gulfstream Park allowance/optional claimer to be two-for-two on the year. Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard on Saturday. Among those lining up against Hard Not to Like on Saturday is Emotional Kitten (Kitten’s Joy), who was fourth by only three parts of a length in last year’s Jenny Wiley. The Wesley Ward-trained chestnut closed out her 2014 campaign with a course and 1 1/16-mile distance allowance win and a second, placed fourth via disqualification, in the Goldikova S. (G2) at Santa Anita Park.

Filimbi (Mizzen Mast) captured the Goldikova and was fifth while making her
seasonal bow in Tampa Bay Downs’ Hillsborough S. (G3). That latter race saw Ball
Dancing (Exchange Rate) be runner-up for the second straight time after filling
that same spot in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. (G1) last fall at
Keeneland. Personal Diary (City Zip) was a dead-heat third in the Queen
Elizabeth II Challenge Cup before rounding out her sophomore season with a
fourth-placing at Churchill Downs in the Mrs. Revere S. (G2).

Completing the Jenny Wiley field are Eden Prairie (Mizzen Mast) and Samiam (Dynaformer),
the respective first and third in the Bayou S. last out in late February, and
Starstruck (Galileo), who was fourth in the Suwannee River S. (G3) on February 7
and will be making her Keeneland bow here for new trainer Jose Fernandez.

The Ben Ali will kick off Keeneland’s stakes action on Saturday, with a field
of six going nine furlongs on the main track. Dual Grade 3 scorer Protonico
(Giant’s Causeway) returns in this spot after being eased in the Donn H. (G1) in
early February at Gulfstream Park. That was the Todd Pletcher trainee’s
four-year-old bow after just missing by a rallying half-length in the Clark H.
(G1) last November at Churchill Downs.

Other contenders include Canadian classic winner Ami’s Holiday (Harlan’s
Holiday) and Grade 1 hero Golden Ticket (Speightstown), who ran third last out
in the March 14 Razorback H. (G3).

The Giant’s Causeway S. follows the Ben Ali two races later and drew 12
runners sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on Keeneland’s turf course.

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