Gate-to-Wire Victory for Hesabull

After taking off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye had only two mounts Saturday.

Unable to threaten with Hidden Source in the first race, he made the most of his other opportunity.

Delahoussaye directed 8-1 shot Hesabull to a gate-to-wire win in the $103,000 Harry Henson Stakes, beating 7-10 favorite Tiger Talk by three-quarters of a length.

Winning for the third time in seven starts, the 3-year-old Dispersal colt covered the 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:27 4/5. Slews Royal Son, seeking his fourth victory of the meeting, was third, a neck further back. Afleetaffair, the 5-2 second choice, finished fifth in the field of six.

“We’ve had a lot of hope for this colt,” trainer Mike Chambers said. “He ran great today. When you see [Delahoussaye] on the lead, you feel very comfortable, you know he’s got a little something left. [The outside post] helped us a lot today, he could go to the front or sit off if we had to.”

Delahoussaye, named on four horses this afternoon, has been aboard Hesabull in all three of his victories and praised Chambers.

“Mike has done a great job with this colt,” he said. “I broke against his mouth coming out of the gate because I didn’t want him to run off.

“He relaxed and did everything right. He’s a nice colt. He was named right. Hesabull. He’s tough. But once you get him to work for you, he has a lot of ability and I think he’s going to improve as he gets older.”

This was the second consecutive defeat for Tiger Talk after he began his career with three consecutive wins. He was the runner-up behind Romano Gucci in the Gotham on March 30 in his last start before the Henson.

“My horse didn’t want to go to the lead on his own, so I didn’t force the issue with him,” jockey Chris McCarron said of the favorite. “He was content to lay second. I thought I had the leader when I asked my horse to run, but he just got outrun.”

Horse Racing Notes

Longshots were the order of the day again Saturday, so there is a Hollywood Park-record three-day Pick Six carryover of $869,071.45 for today. Vaudvillian, who led all the way under Joy Scott, provided the biggest surprise, winning the fifth race at $113.20. In addition to Hesabull, other upset winners in the Pick Six races included Papalote at 8-1 and Concordial at 13-1. . . . Making her first start outside California, heavily favored Exotic Wood toyed with five overmatched rivals in the $112,840 Genuine Risk at Belmont Park. Ridden by Mike Smith for trainer Ron Ellis and owners Marty and Pam Wygod, the 4-year-old Rahy filly rolled home by nearly five lengths in 1:08 2/5 for the six furlongs. It was the sixth win in seven starts for Exotic Wood, who was making her first start since being defeated by Serena’s Song in the Santa Monica Handicap more than four months ago at Santa Anita. . . . Serena’s Song, meanwhile, won the $150,000 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs. Ridden by Gary Stevens, she covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50 1/5. . . . Helmsman, who has won two of his three starts on dirt, is the 8-5 favorite in the $250,000 Californian today at Hollywood Park. Del Mar Dennis, who has won 10 of 22 lifetime, is the 5-2 second choice in the 1 1/8-mile race and the field also includes Siphon, Tinners Way and Mr Purple.