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Pick Pony | Oct. 13, 2024, 9:35 p.m.
Heavy favorite Bad Sneakers made a late run down the stretch, but Lea Me Be dug in his heels and proved too stubborn to catch in a battle to the wire of Saturday night’s featured allowance race at Remington Park.
Jockey Iram Diego had a three-length lead at the top of the stretch aboard Lea Me Be, but the even-money favorite, Bad Sneakers, with rider Harry Hernandez up, was making a run from fifth and had moved into second. He closed even more nearing the wire, but Diego had saved enough horse for the late going in the 6-1/2-furlong race on the fast main track for a 1-3/4 length victory by Lea Me Be.
That 4-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding was consistently moving forward with every race at Remington Park this meet and trainer Tristan Ashford had him fit and ready to fire in the third outing off a layoff of about seven weeks before his Remington Park debut.
Lea Me Be, a son of Lea, out of the Five Star Day mare Exploremore, was sent off at 7-2 odds and paid $9.20 to win, $4 to place and $3 to show across the board. He earned $20,847 for Clay Harris of Big Springs, Texas, from the $35,000 purse and improved lifetime to 22 starts, five wins, five seconds and four thirds for a bankroll of $109,570.
Lea Me Be was bred by Bradley Purcell & Wedgewood Farm. He was originally purchased for a measly $3,200 in the Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Fall Mixed Sale of 2021 by former owner Jesse Compton. Harris and Tristan Ashford claimed him on Sept. 8, 2023, out of a $20,000 claiming race at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa. Since the claim, Lea Me Be has won four times for Harris.
It was the gelding’s first win in five starts at Remington Park. Bad Sneakers, coming off a layoff from Aug. 26 at Louisiana Downs finished a half-length in front of third-place runner Laridae (14-1).
Running time for the winner was 1:17.12 over the fast track. Lea Me Be stalked down the backstretch the front-running Bobwhite Bobby (20-1) and took over in the far turn as that pacesetter faded to seventh. The early speed horse set fractions of :22.56 for the first quarter-mile and :45.64 for the half-mile. After three-quarters of a mile, Lea Me Be hit that mark in 1:10.59.
Hernandez Doubles, Milestone Within Reach Jockey Harry Hernandez posted a riding double on Saturday night, moving him ever-closer to 1,000 career victories in the United States.
Herandez won race two on Courageous Cappen ($8.20 to win) and then scored one more in race six with Daring Reason ($4.40). The double gives Hernandez 994 wins in America since moving here from Puerto Rico in 2015.