Betsdownletsride cruises in Hillsdale Stakes

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Sept. 30, 2020) – Getting to the races was the first goal, but now Herb and Darlene Likens have accomplished another goal as their two-year-old homebred is three for three. Betsdownletsride cruised to victory in the 20th running of the $75,000 Hillsdale Stakes Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. The race is named after Indiana bred standout, Hillsdale, who won major stakes from Coast to Coast in the late 1950s and is still ranked sixth on the list of all-time leading money earners in the state with more than $600,000 in earnings.

Betsdownletsride responded to jockey Emmanuel Esquivel out of the gate and got into good early positioning, biding his time behind Mischieviousbud and Rodney Prescott in the six-furlong race. Joe Cool and Eddie Perez also used early speed along the inside with Private Union and DeShawn Parker keeping tabs on the front runners.

Around the only turn, Betsdownletsride excelled past his opponents and had taken over the lead by the head of the stretch. Once he straightened out, the Sangaree gelding was tough to overtake, cruising under the wire for the one and three-quarter length win. Lookin at Justice and Marcelino Pedroza made a strong bid in the stretch to finish second followed by Astroman and Rocco Bowen for third.

“He broke sharp like he always does,” said Esquivel. “As soon as I tipped him out, he took off. He is a really honest horse and nice to ride, although he still has the mind of a baby. But when you get after him, he says ‘okay, let’s go.’ He has been good since we started working him a quarter. He’s always been forward. I’m really surprised he got fit that quick.”

Betsdownletsride is trained by Cipriano Contreras for the Likens, who bred and raised the freshman. It was his first attempt in stakes action, and he boosted his career earnings tally over the $94,000 mark. He had a bit of a reputation at the Likens Farm west of Anderson, Ind. before he became a racehorse.

“He’s never been mean but he likes to play,” said Herb. “His nickname early on was ‘Striker’ because when you would turn around to leave, he’d strike at you wanting to play more. We finally took him to Amy Elliott’s farm because we felt he might hurt somebody.”

Elliott has had a big part of Likens’ success with Betsdownletsride. She bought the mare, Convey, for the Likens, which was a good cross with their stallion at the time, Sangaree.

“When we bought the mare, she had a baby in her and it died,” said Likens. “This colt is the first one to race. We sold Sangaree, but Amy told us, ‘make sure you breed back to Sangaree because it’s a good cross,’ and she was right.”

The only thing left was to pick out a name. When table games arrived in Indiana in January, a slogan caught Herb’s eye, which eventually became his choice for a name.

“Hoosier Park was using a slogan, ‘Bets Down, Let’s Play,’ and I thought that would be a good name for a horse,” recalled Herb. “So, we replaced the last word with ride and had our name.”

The Likens are longtime supporters of both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing programs with many years of foals emerging from their farm. They currently have three brood mares in foal for 2021, along with two weanlings and three yearlings. Riley Reason assists them with the horses at the farm and has always had a special liking to Betsdownletsride. She was trackside for the gelding’s win in the Hillsdale Stakes and has one to look forward to next year. Betsdownletsride’s younger sister will be a two-year-old in 2021.

“We have a two-year-old filly at home that is a half sister by Suprize,” said Darlene. “We don’t have a name picked out for her yet. We usually wait until they are two-year-olds before we start that process.”

In the meantime, Contreras is keeping Betsdownletsride under tabs, and his hard work is paying off.

“When we started working with him early, I never thought he’d be undefeated in three starts,” said Contreras. “He seems to mature with every start. He’s getting better. He’s just a little boy.”

Photos by Coady Photography