Willcox Inn will be the one to beat in the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby at Hawthorne on 15 October
The Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby is to be held at Hawthorne racecourse on 15 October, 2011, where there were 33 nominations for the race but 10 connections chose to run, and among those 10 is the 3-year-old Michael Stidham trained Willcox Inn.
The Hawthorne Derby is going to be run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on grass, and Willcox Inn has done really well on grass this season and will be the one to beat in the race.
The son of Harlan’s Holiday, out of De Arr by Gone West, Willcox Inn has won 2 back to back races this season out of 5 starts in 2011.
The season opener for Willcox Inn was the 7 ½ furlong long Grindstone Stakes on turf at Fair Grounds racecourse on 12 March, 2011, where he finished as a runner up behind Great Mills.
Willcox Inn has had only one start on Poly Track this season, and it was a disappointing outing for the colt as he finished 8th in the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on 16 April, 2011.
Sticking to grass, Willcox Inn picked up his first win of the season in the Arlington Classic at Arlington Park on 28 May, 2011, under new jockey R Albarado over at a distance of 1 1/16 miles with the winning time of 1 minute and 49.51 seconds.
Next up was the Grade 2 American Derby at about 1 3/16 miles also on turf at Arlington Park on 9 September, 2011, where Willcox Inn defeated Sun Tracer and Derby Kitten on the way with the winning time of 1 minute and 54.56 seconds.
Willcox Inn made his third consecutive start at Arlington Park, this time to conquer the field of the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes, but the ample amount of European talent kept him at bay, and Willcox Inn finished 4th while Treasure Beach won the race.
Regular rider Robbie Albarado will be back to mount the colt in the Hawthorne Derby, and Willcox Inn has been installed as the 5 to 2 morning line favourite to win the race.
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