Spun takes Street revenge

Hard Spun gained revenge on his Kentucky Derby conqueror Street Sense with a thrilling victory in the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway.

The re-match lived up to its billing with Hard Spun finding more when his old rival put in a strong challenge in the straight to win by a length and a quarter.

“I thought it was going to work like that. Two good horses like that, you have to be close together. I got him to relax and felt him crawling along early,” jockey Mario Pino told bloodhorse.com.

“At the three-eighths pole he dropped his head down, going faster and faster to the wire. Hard Spun is a powerful fighter, he dug in all the way to the end.”

Trainer Larry Jones told www.thoroughbredtimes.com: “He was ready to get it on. This was a very good Breeders’ Cup Classic prep. He ran so well off of Polytrack last time, so this should set him up perfectly,”

Street Sense’s trainer Carl Nafzger took defeat on the chin, saying: “I think it was a great run. We ran a good race. We’re ready to go on. It was up to him at the head of the lane to get by Hard Spun.

“I thought he could do it, but it was hard to get by anyone all day. He just outran us.”