Hit Show powers home to repeat in Fayette at Keeneland
After settling into mid-pack early, Hit Show watched rivals rally past him at the top of the Keeneland homestretch. It was inside the final furlong of the Grade 3 Fayette Stakes when jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. asked for more with a right-handed crop. Did he ever get it.
Hit Show (7-2) powered to the lead just before the sixteenth pole and held off deep-closing Rattle N Roll by a length for a repeat victory in the two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race worth $350,000.
Trained by Brad Cox for Qatar-based owner Wathnan Racing, the 5-year-old Candy Ride horse added the Fayette to a list of 2025 wins that includes the Louisiana (G3), the Dubai World Cup (G1) and the West Virginia Governor’s.
“He’s all class,” Cox said. “He ran big in Dubai and came back. He’s been a great horse all year. I’m just very proud of the horse and his consistency. He always shows up and runs.”
Dilger (39-1) set the early pace through splits of 23.01, 46.66 and 1:11.31 on the fast main track. Hit Show raced in sixth of 11 up the backstretch and moved wide in the second turn to settle into third place.
The closing-day feature really turned into a race when Dilger wilted in the turn for home. Dragoon Guard (8-1), a 4-year-old stablemate of Hit Show who was ridden by Florent Géroux, dueled along the rail with 3-year-old Gosger (8-5), trainer Brendan Walsh’s post-time favorite who was piloted into the two path by Luis Sáez. They got the mile call at 1:37.21.
As they went eyeball to eyeball in a fight for the lead, Ortiz and Hit Show were storming three wide to pass them both. All the while 6-year-old Rattle N Roll (13-1), who was last up the backstretch under Emmanuel Ésquivel, was charging while drifting out down the middle of the track to try and poach the victory, but the rally proved to be too late.
“Down the lane he kind of kept floating out, and he kind of fought me a little to put him straight,” Ésquivel said. “I think that might have cost me the race, because (Hit Show) was closing really hard. And with (Rattle N Roll) still trying to float out, it took some of our momentum.”
Hit Show had a winning time of 1:50.39 on the fast main track. He paid $9.14, $5.84 and $3.50 across the board. Rattle N Roll captured second and returned $10.72 and $5.98. Gosger came home third and paid $2.90 to show. Three-year-old Bracket Buster (7-2) wound up fourth.
“He appreciates the mile-and-an-eighth distance,” Ortiz said about Hit Show. “He was ready to run. Brad had him ready. He did a great job with the horse. I just followed his instructions. He told me to try to stay in contact with the field, so that’s what I tried to do. After that we had a beautiful trip.”
Bred in Kentucky by Gary and Mary West, Hit Show has earned more than $8 million from a record of 22: 11-1-1. He was coming off a fourth-place finish in the Lukas Classic (G2) on Sept. 27 at Churchill Downs.
Hit Show is 3-for-3 at Keeneland, where he won his October 2022 debut and last year’s Fayette.