Kant Hurry Love digs in to win Garland of Roses

Kant Hurry Love withstood multiple challenges in her first start in nearly six months on the way to victory against open company in Sunday’s $135,000 Garland of Roses Stakes at Aqueduct.

Ken Wheeler Jr.’s 5-year-old Kantharos mare, off since winning the 6-furlong Dancin Renee Stakes in late June during the Belmont at the Big A meeting, repelled a late run from Ain’t Broke to win by a neck under Romero Maragh. Trained by David Duggan, Kant Hurry Love also bettered her run in last year’s Garland of Roses, where she finished second by a neck behind Hot Fudge.

“She’s as tough as old boots,” Duggan said. “If you had half of them that had her heart, you’d be doing well.”

Kant Hurry Love, the 9-2 fourth choice in the field of six fillies and mares, took the lead from the break and led Autumn Evening through a sharp opening quarter-mile in :22.77 with the New York-bred duo of Cara’s Time and Captainsdaughter 1 1/2 lengths back in a side-by-side tracking position.

Autumn Evening ramped the pressure on Kant Hurry Love around the far turn to draw almost to even terms approaching the quarter-pole and half-mile split in :46.15. Kant Hurry Love shook off that challenge and opened up down on the inside. Ain’t Broke continued to make steady progress on the outside in the stretch and inside the eighth pole appeared to have all the momentum to edge past the frontrunner.

Kant Hurry Love, making her seventh straight stakes appearance, wouldn’t give up the lead and held off Ain’t Broke to win in 1:10.32. Autumn Evening finished another 2 lengths back in third with Cara’s Time fourth. Even-money favorite Mystic Pleasure and Captainsdaughter completed the field.

“She dug in a lot in the stretch,” Maragh said. “She was just so game and she fought on fiercely. The whole way, she was really just dragging me around there, but she was doing it very comfortable. They [the barn of trainer David Duggan] did a phenomenal job coming off of a six-month layoff for her to reengage the bridle, dig back in. She didn’t get tired, so that’s just an amazing feeling, especially [since] you don’t see that a lot with horses coming off of a six-month layoff to show so much speed and then finish up the way that she did.”

Kant Hurry Love improved to 7-for-23 with eight seconds and five thirds in her career and boosted her bankroll to $599,850. She’s also won two of four starts this season. Kant Hurry Love was entered in the Union Avenue Stakes in early August at Saratoga Race Course but scratched after coming up with a minor foot injury.

Kant Hurry Love also won the 2023 Dancin Renee and has placed in four other stakes, including against open company in the 2024 Correction at Aqueduct.

“I was quietly confident because we never really lost time with her,” Duggan said of the layoff. “After Saratoga when she came up lame, we sent her out and swam her for about a month, so she never had any downtime. We kept her ticking over when she got back. She worked about three works ago and worked very, very good and I knew I was on target.

“They’re looking to sell her midway through February in the February sale. I don’t know whether they’ll breed her now, maybe they will – things change. We missed some pivotal opportunities leading up to this. We were just hoping she would get right – this was open-company and for a New York-bred this was pivotal from a breeding perspective. It adds a lot of value.”

Bred by Dr. John and Laura McDermott, foaled at Seldom Still Farm in Granville and out of their homebred Langfuhr mare She’s All Love, Kant Hurry Love sold for $40,000 to Debbie Easter at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Showcase in Kentucky.

A half-sister to stakes winners Candid Desire and Bonus Points, She’s All Love is also the dam of the multiple placed 3-year-old New York-bred Keen Ice gelding Triple Word Score.

She’s All Love did not produce a foal in 2022 or 2023 and is the dam of a weanling New York-bred filly by multiple Grade 1 winner Vekoma born February 10.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2024/12/08/kant-hurry-love-digs-in-to-win-garland-of-roses/

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