Non Violence trying to improve on last year’s Twin Bridges’ second

Ellis Park stakes advances by Kevin Kerstein (Coady Media photo of Non Violence winning an allowance race last year at Churchill Downs)

HENDERSON, Ky. (Wednesday, July 17, 2024) – Martin Racing Stable, Bob Gorsky and Circustown Stables’ 2023 Twin Bridges Stakes runner-up Non Violence is set for her return to Ellis Park Racing & Gaming on Monday, where she’ll face seven rivals in this year’s edition of the six-furlong dash.

          Monday’s second running of the Twin Bridges Stakes will go as the eighth race on the nine-race program with a post time of 3:19 p.m. (all times Central). First post is 11:50 a.m.

          Trained by Bret Calhoun, Non Violence finished a game second to top sprinter Wicked Halo in last year’s Twin Bridges, beaten only by 1 ¼ lengths. Following the Twin Bridges, Non Violence contested the one-mile Groupie Doll but finished a disappointing seventh. That race was the final start of Non Violence’s 4-year-old campaign as she went to the sidelines for nine months, returning May 27 in the Memorial Day Sprint at Lone Star where she had a troubled start and finished sixth. With her regular rider, Rey Gutierrez, spending the summer at Del Mar, jockey Jaime Torres will ride in the Twin Bridges from post No. 8.

          Among Non Violence’s rivals that entered the Twin Bridges are last-out allowance winners Amaretti and Your So Sillea along with Skipat Stakes runner-up Swall.

          Here is the complete field for the Twin Bridges from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

• Amaretti (Cristian Torres, Bill Mott)
• Altered Shot (Luan Machado, Jesus Esquivel)
• Pistol (Edgar Morales, Tom Van Berg)
• Your So Sillea (Jareth Loveberry, Phil Sims)
• American Band (Alberto Burgos, John Haran)
• Swall (Martin Garcia, Phil D’Amato)
• Secret Statement (Adam Beschizza, Jimmy Baker)
• Non Violence (Jaime Torres, Calhoun)

Fans can watch and wager on all the action from Ellis Park on www.twinspires.com, the official wagering provider of Churchill Downs Incorporated. 

HERE MI SONG RETURNS TO ELLIS PARK TO DEFEND TITLE IN SUNDAY’S JEFF HALL MEMORIAL – Nathan Hayden’s talented homebred Here Mi Song returns to Ellis Park Racing & Gaming where he will defend his title in Sunday’s third running of the $125,000 Jeff Hall Memorial, run at 6 ½ furlongs over the main track.

The now 6-year-old Here Mi Song will face several accomplished sprinters in the Jeff Hall Memorial, including graded stakes-placed Call Me Fast and Happy Is a Choice, along with speedy allowance winner Champlin and Louisville Thoroughbred Society runner-up Gulfstream Way.

Carded as Race 8 of 9, the Jeff Hall Memorial field will go to post at 3:19 p.m. (all times Central). The first post is 11:50 a.m.

Trained by Billy Stinson Jr., Here Mi Song is set for his 26th career start on Sunday. As a 5-year-old, Here Mi Song pulled an 11-1 upset victory in the Commonwealth (Grade III) at Keeneland before his narrow victory three months later over O Besos in the Jeff Hall Memorial. After a disappointing fifth-place finish in the R.A. Cowboy Jones in mid-August, Here Mi Song was away from the races until March 9, when he finished sixth in the Big Daddy over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park. He returned to dirt two months later in the Churchill Downs (GI) and finished a game runner-up to Gun Pilot. Jockey Edgar Morales will have the mount on Here Mi Song in his Jeff Hall Memorial defense from the rail.

Breaking one post to his outside is Hooties Racing, WSS Racing, and 4G Racing’s Happy Is a Choice. Trained by 2022 Ellis Park champion conditioner John Ortiz, Happy Is a Choice has been extremely consistent throughout his nine-race campaign with four victories, including a powerful 2 ¼-length allowance win one month ago at Churchill Downs. Before that win, Happy Is a Choice chased the speedySkelly in the Count Fleet Handicap (GIII) at Oaklawn but finished third. Jockey Jaime Torres will have the mount in the Jeff Hall Memorial.

          Here is the complete field for the Jeff Hall Memorial from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

• Here Mi Song (Morales, Stinson, 2-1)
• Happy Is a Choice (Jaime Torres, Ortiz, 7-2)
• Osbourne (Rafael Bejarano, Ron Moquett, 12-1)
• Call Me Fast (Francisco Arrieta, Michael Puhich, 6-1)
• Champlin (Mitchell Murrill, Greg Foley, 4-1)
• Gulfstream Way (Florent Geroux, Norm Casse, 10-1)
• Scotland (Cristian Torres, Bill Mott, 5-1)

Aside from the Jeff Hall Memorial, Sunday’s card includes two allowances (Races 3 and 6) and two maiden special weights (Races 7 and 9). The Jeff Hall Memorial is the penultimate leg of the Late Pick 5 sequence that features an average of 10.6 horses in the body of each race.