Wudda U Think Now and Trevor McCarthy hit the wire in Saturday’s Hollie Hughes Stakes. NYRA Photo/Chelsea Durand
By Melissa Bauer-Herzog
The third time was the charm for Wudda U Think Now when the Mina Equivest-bred 5-year-old took the $100,000 Hollie Hughes Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths as the favorite in his third stakes attempt.
The gelding made his intentions known from the start of the 6-furlong race when he sprinted out of the gate to take the lead a few strides into the race with Runningwscissors the only one to stick with him. That pair opened nearly 5 lengths on the rest of the field as they covered the first quarter in :23.16.
Second choice My Boy Tate tried to make his move as the field exited the turn but that move came at the same time Wudda U Think Now started pulling away from Runningwscissors. My Boy Tate tried to chase the leader down but Wudda Think Now would hear nothing of it as he continued to extend his lead down the stretch.
After 1:11.17, it was the sixth win in 14 starts for the Rudy Rodriguez-trained Fast Anna gelding. The victory kept him undefeated in 2022 with career earnings of $358,060 for owner Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group.
“Turning for home, when he switches, he just opens up and he really lays it down,” said jockey Trevor McCarthy. “I give these guys a lot of credit. He’s a gorilla in the morning and he likes to be pretty aggressive training. Huge credit to the barn with him. I knew My Boy Tate would be coming, so I said I would ride him hard past the eighth pole and see where I was at. It was a good race.”
Rodriguez had faith that Wudda U Think Now was a stakes horse and now that he has a stakes victory under his belt is eying longer targets.
“I don’t think 7 furlongs is a problem,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a kind horse to rate. There was no speed in the race, but I think he’d be able to rate. Since we got him, I told the owner that he’s a very nice horse and told him that I thought we could win a stake with him, so thank God we got it done.”
Grant has owned Wudda U Think Now since he was a yearling, purchasing him for $60,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred yearling sale.
Wudda U Think Now is one of five winners from five to race out of the stakes-placed Unbridled Jet mare Unbridled Grace. While she is the dam of one stakes winner in Wudda U Think Now, she is also the dam of the New York-bred stakes performers James Jingle and C d’Cat.
Unbridled Grace was a $55,000 broodmare purchase in 2007 and has seen her five runners sell for $30,000 to $55,000 as yearlings. Those horses have paid her back with 32 wins.
Wudda U Think Now is her final foal with the mare being bred one more time to Texas Red the year the Hollie Hughes winner was born but not catching from that mating.
