Excellent Field Assembled for Return of Carey Memorial at Hawthorne
STICKNEY, IL – A mainstay on the Hawthorne Stakes Calendar from 1983 through 2013, the once named Robert F. Carey Memorial has returned to the Hawthorne schedule in 2024. Rebranded as The Carey Memorial, the $150,000 turf event will be contested at one mile Sunday on the Hawthorne turf. A fine field of twelve passed the entry box on Wednesday as the Carey Memorial will go as race seven on the Sunday Hawthorne card.
Heading the field in The Carey Memorial is Nineeleventurbo for owner Stepaside Farm, LLC and trainer Neil Drysdale. The seven-year-old gelding really came into form last season, winning four of seven starts. His first taste of stakes company came last September in a fine second place performance in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap. He closed his 2023 campaign in the Grade 2 Red Smith at Aqueduct where he was beaten only two lengths. He opened 2024 with a sixth-place run in the Grade 3 Daytona at Santa Anita before posting back to back runner-up efforts in the Million Preview Stakes at Colonial and Tapit Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Vincent Cheminaud is in to ride the 3-1 morning line favorite.
Trainer Mike Maker sends Tut’s Revenge for owner Flying P Stable as the turf mile specialist is the 9-2 second choice in the Carey. After a sharp optional claiming allowance score on the grass at Churchill in June, Tut’s Revenge was a fine winner on the front end in the Kentucky Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile on August 3. He comes into the Carey off an eighth-place performance against a tough field in the Grade 3 Mint Million Stakes at Kentucky Downs in his most recent start. Jareth Loveberry has the call aboard Tut’s Revenge on Sunday.
Kelly Breen ships in He’spuregold for owner John Bowers, Jr. as the six-time stakes winner draws the rail as the 5-1 third choice in the morning line. A nine-time winner of over $600,000, He’spuregold has also been fantastic at this one-mile distance. He’spuregold has been dominant at Monmouth as he won the Irish War Cry Handicap for the fourth consecutive year on July 7. He followed that race with a strong third-place effort in the Oceanport Stakes before winning the Red Bank Stakes in his most recent start. Regular rider Paco Lopez gets the call on Sunday.
Stitched comes into the Carey looking to return to his 2023 form as a win in this race would push him past $1 million in career earnings. Trained by Greg Foley and owned by Nathan McCauley, Stitched was an upset winner of the Grade 2 Wise Dan at Ellis last July. He followed that start with a near miss in the Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs before a seventh-place effort in the Grade 1 Turf Mile at Keeneland last October. Marcelino Pedroza, Jr. rides Stitched on Sunday.
Aside from the four listed above, the full field includes six additional stakes winning or stakes placed horses including Katie M’Lady, Another Mystery, Tonka Warrior, American Mayhem, Out of Deductions and Otago. The full field for The Carey Memorial:
PP Horse Trainer Jockey M/L
1 He’spuregold K. Breen P. Lopez 5-1
2 Katie M’Lady M. Boyce J. Felix 15-1
3 Another Mystery C. Block O. Mojica 15-1
4 Tut’s Revenge M. Maker J. Loveberry 9-2
5 Woodcock Flight (IRE) C. Banks R. Slevinsky 30-1
6 Tonka Warrior H. Robertson E. Gallardo 15-1
7 American Mayhem J. DiVito A. Centeno 30-1
8 Stitched
9 Nineeleventurbo N. Drysdale V. Cheminaud 3-1
10 Out of Deductions C. Block D. Cohen 12-1
11 Evan Harlan B. Walsh E. Morales 6-1
12 Otago