SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Saturday, July 9, 2022) – As a gallant filly and a gritty mare hit the wire together, assistant trainer David Carroll thought his barn’s favored Hendy Woods and jockey Florent Geroux had won Saturday’s $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Watching the slow-motion video immediately afterward, Carroll wasn’t so sure.
Jockey Rafael Bejarano, aboard Flippant, thought he’d come up short, by however so small a margin. So did trainer Vicki Oliver. But in performances where Hendy Woods and Flippant ran too well to lose, both landed in the winner’s circle with the dead heat.
“At first I thought we got it. Then I watched the replay and I thought we got a bad nod,” said Carroll, who oversees the Churchill Downs division for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. “Mark (by phone) asked me if I’d take a dead heat, I said, ‘At this stage, yes I would.’
“She had a great trip. I saw the fractions early on and they were 22, 44, exceptionally fast. When he called upon her, she ran her race. Rafael snuck up the inside and got a great trip. Great race, great finish. We’re very happy. We’re very proud of her.”
Hendy Woods and Flippant ran the last eighth mile together, with Hendy Woods sweeping wide and Flippant getting through the rail. Over turf rated “good,” they covered 1 1/16 miles in what was timed in 1:40.18, not far off Dreamin Big’s 2013 course record of 1:39.70. No fractions were available because of timer malfunction.
Hendy Woods paid $3.20 to win as the favorite; Flippant returned $4.40 as the third choice in the field of eight fillies and mares.
“Honestly, I thought I got beat,” Bejarano said of Flippant, who was a good third in her prior start, coming off a 7 1/2-month layoff. “My horse tried so hard. But the way the track was playing on the inside (after Friday’s rain), it was a kind of a little deep. But I had no other choice but to come inside because the 4 (Geroux) decided to come outside. My horse kept running at the end. It was like a bob of the head to get the job done. It was good to see her win.”
Said Geroux: “I got a great trip. I was following the filly of Brendan Walsh’s (Lake Lucerne), tipped out and it took her a while to hit her best stride late. The filly of Rafael’s finished with a rush at the end. It was a very close call. I had no idea who won. It was close.”
Hendy Woods ended a four-race winless streak since taking Kentucky Downs’ restricted One Dreamer Stakes last September. The daughter of Uncle Mo is now 6-2-1 in 15 starts, earning $599,131 for owner-breeder Stonestreet Stables.
Flippant needed five times to win a maiden race but immediately followed that last year with victories in Ellis Park’s Kentucky Downs Preview, Dueling Grounds Oaks, and the Virginia Oaks. Her 3-year-old season ended when she was eighth in Keeneland’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.
The gray/roan daughter of Tapit now is 4-2-1 in 10 starts, bankrolling $256,409 for owner-breeder G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Oliver’s father.
“I thought she ran really big,” Oliver said by phone. “She had to kind of thread the needle to get in there. I wasn’t sure we were going to get through. But she’s a pretty game, tough filly. I was surprised when they showed a dead heat; I thought we were second, actually. It was pretty fun to have a dead heat. That was the first for me, a dead heat in a stakes win.”
It was another length back to 8-1 shot Lake Lucerne, followed by Take Charge Ro, Navratilova, Timeless Rose, pacesetting Two Sixtyone and Waliyak.
Photos by Coady Photography
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