Hard Not to Like Attempts Repeat in Jenny Wiley
Speedway Stable’s Hard Not to Like will attempt to become the second repeat winner of the $300,000 Jenny Wiley (G1) on Saturday when she takes on seven rivals in the 1 1/16-mile grass test.
The Jenny Wiley will go as the ninth race on Saturday’s 11-race program with an approximate post time of 4:46 p.m. ET. First post time Saturday is 12:35 p.m.
Only Intercontinental (GB) in 2004 and 2005 has repeated in the Jenny Wiley, first run in 1989.
Now trained by Christophe Clement, Hard Not to Like rallied from off the pace to win last year’s renewal by a half-length. That was her final race of 2014. She began 2015 by being disqualified from victory in the Lambholm South Endeavor (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 31.
Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Hard Not to Like and break from post position five.
Top challengers to Hard Not to Like figure to come from a trio of hopefuls with experience over the course.
W.S. Farish and Steve Mooney’s Ball Dancing and G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and St. George Farm Racing’s Personal Diary finished second and third, respectively, in last fall’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Lane’s End at Keeneland.
Trained by Chad Brown, Ball Dancing was second to stablemate Stephanie’s Kitten in her 2015 debut in the Hillsborough (G3) at Tampa Bay on March 7. Javier Castellano has the mount Saturday and will break from post position four.
Personal Diary, winner of the Del Mar Oaks (G1) last summer, is trained by Vicki Oliver. She will be making her 2015 debut and will break from post position one under Joe Bravo.
Also returning to Keeneland is Juddmonte Farms’ Filimbi.
Trained by Bill Mott, who owns four victories in the Jenny Wiley, Filimbi finished third in the First Lady (G1) here last fall and closed 2014 with a victory in the Goldikova (G2) at Santa Anita.
Fifth in her 2015 debut in the Hillsborough, Filimbi will break from post position three and be ridden by Joel Rosario.
The field for the Jenny Wiley, from the inside out, is as follows: Personal Diary (Bravo, 118 pounds), Starstruck (IRE) (Jose Lezcano, 118), Filimbi (Rosario, 120), Ball Dancing (Castellano, 118), Hard Not to Like (Ortiz Jr., 118), Samiam (Kerwin Clark, 118), Emotional Kitten (Julien Leparoux, 118) and Eden Prairie (Florent Geroux, 118).
Source: Keeneland Association