Heart to Heart Leads All the Way in El Prado

With an eye on bigger prizes at Gulfstream Park this winter, Heart to Heart got off to a hot start at the 2016-17 Championship Meet by winning the $100,000 El Prado on Saturday afternoon.

 

Piloted by Julien Leparoux, the 5-year-old son of English Channel set a pressured pace in the 7 1/2-furlong turf race and hung on for a neck victory over Flatlined.

 

Leparoux said he and Heart to Heart’s exit from the starting gate was not the smoothest.

 

“He actually broke and threw his head up and kind of bumped my nose a little bit, but the rail stayed open so I just put him in there and he relaxed good,” Leparoux said. “He loves this track. He got a little tired at the end, but I think he ran a big race.”

 

At the 2015-16 Gulfstream Park stand, the Brian Lynch-trained Heart to Heart won both the Fort Lauderdale (G2) and Canadian Turf (G3) for owner Terry Hamilton.

 

Lynch said those are his objectives again with Heart to Heart, who has won at distances up to 1 1/8 miles.

“He’s a versatile little guy; he won the Knickerbocker at a mile an eighth,” Lynch said. “Whenever he can dictate his terms — like today, I think he got pressed on a little bit and that is probably not his game. I think a mile and a mile and a sixteenth is his best game where he can clear them a little bit and just relax on a comfortable half-mile.”

 

The $200,000 Fort Lauderdale at 1 1/16 miles will be run Jan. 14, and is followed by the $150,000 Canadian Turf on March 4 at a mile.

 

Heart to Heart, whose earnings after the El Prado win reached $997,530, returned $3.60 as the favorite and completed the distance in 1:30.03 over a firm course.

Winless through six starts this year, Hidden Brook Farms’ Neck of the Moon capped her season and perhaps her career with a neck victory over multiple graded stakes-winning favorite Sandiva in the $100,000 South Beach at Gulfstream.

 

With Championship Meet-leading rider Paco Lopez aboard for the first time, Neck of the Moon ($14.20) swept to the lead racing five wide around the far turn and steadily gained ground down the stretch to pass Sandiva nearing the wire and win in 1:31.00 for 7 ½ furlongs over a firm turf course.

 

“She’s been very consistent. She’s fired nearly every time I’ve run her this year; she’s just been very unlucky. Today, she got the trip she needed,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “We told Paco a few things about her, particularly her affinity to get outside if possible in a big field, and he executed it perfectly. I’m really proud of the ride he gave her and I’m proud of the filly for the effort she gave.”

 

Neck of the Moon was able to save ground in the early stages breaking from Post 6 in the field of nine as 21-1 long shot Cali Thirty Seven led through a quarter-mile in 24.47 seconds and a half in 48.79, chased by Midnight Miley with European import Excilly right behind and Sandiva tucked in between horses.

 

Lopez swung the 6-year-old mare outside leaving the backstretch and she effortlessly rolled up to the leaders as Sandiva began to separate from the field. Neck of the Moon continued to push forward and get by Sandiva, who was a half-length better than Excilly in third.           

 

“This filly is easy to ride. I had good position on the inside,” Lopez said. “When I took her to the outside, she ran big.”

 

Neck of the Moon earned her fifth win from 22 lifetime starts and first since beating entry-level allowance foes last September at Belmont Park. She hit the board in three stakes this year, beaten a length or less each time.

 

“I’m not sure [what’s next]. She’s getting up there in age now and there’s been some talk about maybe breeding her in the beginning of the year or so. I’m not sure if she’ll run again or not,” Brown said. “I’ll speak to the management at Hidden Brook, just enjoy this for now and see what happens.”