BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Joe D. Casey’s Florida-bred sophomore Hola Joey earned his stakes-winning credentials Saturday night at Prairie Meadows with an emphatic length-and-three-quarters victory in the $50,000 Golden Circle with jockey Tyler Bacon aboard.
Hola Joey entered the Golden Circle off a fifth-place finish in the $200,000 Hot Springs won by Clever Again going a mile at Oaklawn on March 30 then affirmed his effectiveness at six furlongs in the Golden Circle.
After breaking from post six in the field of seven sophomores in the Golden Circle, Hola Joey stayed within a length-and-a-half of frontrunner Spinning Pride, who took a clear advantage down the backstretch through a :22.04 quarter mile. Spinning Pride was challenged on the outside by Time to Fly around the turn as Hola Joey continued to chase from two-lenghs back before joining the command while three-wide at the top of the stretch. Hola Joey and Time to Fly emerged together in the stretch before Hola Joey prevailed in the final sixteenth and finish in 1:10.31 as the 6-5 favorite. Time to Fly was second, two lengths ahead of a late-running Lock and Load in third. Spinning Pride, Williams Empire, Rome’s Conquest and Hasty Flyer completed the order of finish. Don’t Fly Stand By was scratched.
Trained by Gene Jacquot, Hola Joey paid $4.60 to win while carrying the top weight of 124 pounds under the allowance conditions.
A winner of six-furlong maiden special weight at Oaklawn on Dec. 7 in his second career start, Hola Joey made it two straight at the distance in a first level allowance race there on Feb. 1. He was then second to I Got Game going six furlongs in the $150,000 Ozark in his stakes debut before missing in the Hot Sprints in his last race.
Hola Joey improved his reliable record to three wins in six starts with a second and a third while increasing his earnings to $192,712. Casey purchased Hola Joey for a bargain $3,000 at the 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company June Sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age where he was consigned by Ocala Stud.
(Hola Joey’s Under Tack Video)
Hola Joey is by Ocala Stud’s Adios Charlie out of the unraced mare Engaged by Malibu Moon and was bred in Florida by Ocala Stud. Engaged has produced five foals including three winners from four starters with Hola Joey her only black-type performer.
Return to the May 20 issue of Wire to Wire
