Hard Not to Like Up the Rail in Jenny Wiley

Hillsbrook Farms’ Hard Not to Like, who prevailed by a half-length over Discreet Marq in the 26th running of the $300,000 Jenny Wiley (G1) for fillies and mares.

In the Jenny Wiley, jockey Javier Castellano had Hard Not to Like in midpack early as Discreet Marq dueled on the front end with Cloud Scapes and Class Included through fractions of :23.77 and :48.61.

Entering the stretch, Castellano was in among horses and waited for room, finally diving to the inside at the sixteenth pole and wearing down Discreet Marq near the wire.

It was the first victory in the race for Castellano and trainer Michael Matz.

Hard Not to Like, who finished ninth in the Jenny Wiley last year and was runner-up in the 2012 Central Bank Ashland (G1), covered the 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course in 1:42.38.

Hard Not to Like is a 5-year-old, Canadian-bred daughter of Hard Spun out of the Tactical Cat mare Like a Gem. She improved her record to 16-6-2-1 and her earnings to $721,671 with Saturday’s $180,000 check.

Hard Not to Like returned $29, $12.20 and $7.20. Discreet Marq, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., returned $5.40 and $4 with Abaco rallying for third a nose back under Jose Lezcano and paying $11.60 to show.

Emotional Kitten finished a head back in fourth and was followed in order by defending champion Centre Court, Cloud Scapes, Kitten’s Point, Stephanie’s Kitten, Fitful Skies (IRE) and Class Included.