Informed Patriot earned his first Stakes victory when he outfought stablemate Imperial Gun by a determined head to take the $200,000 Bath House Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, 20 April.
The win earned the three-year-old Hard Spun colt an automatic berth in next month’s G1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Breaking alertly from the gate under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., Informed Patriot prompted the pace from second, sitting just off the flank of leader Maximus Magic. Informed Patriot continued to apply pressure up the backstretch and into the far turn, before drawing alongside Maximus Magic to challenge for the lead.
Informed Patriot shook clear at the top of the stretch, then held stablemate Imperial Gun at bay through the lane to earn the well-deserved victory.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and Whisper Hill Farm, Informed Patriot is out of the Stakes-winning mare, Yawkey Way, making him a full brother to G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victor, Spun to Run. In addition, he is a half-brother to California Oaks winner, Tap It All (by Tapizar) and to Stakes-placed Extreme Force (Constitution).
In addition to Informed Patriot, Hard Spun is also the sire of Sparkle Blue, winner of the G2 Hillsborough Stakes; Kupuna, winner of the Evangeline Mile and Drum Roll Please, winner of the $150,000 Jerome Stakes earlier this year.
Hard Spun is standing the 2024 breeding season at Jonabell Farm for $35,000, stands and nurses.
