Heart to Heart Headlines Keeneland's G1 Maker's 46 Mile

Heart to Heart headlines a strong field of 10 horses entered in Friday's 30th running of the $300,000 Maker's 46 Mile (G1) on the turf. Heart to Heart will go up against some tough competition including four-time graded stakes winner Om and winner of the Canadian Turf (G3) at Gulfstream Park on March 3, Hogy.

The Maker's 46 Mile will go as the ninth race on Friday's 10-race program with a 5:30 p.m. ET post time. First post time Friday is 1:05 p.m.

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A 10-time graded stakes winner for trainer Brian Lynch, Heart to Heart has finished second in the past two runnings of the Maker's 46 Mile. Heart to Heart won the Gulfstream Park Turf (G1) in his most recent start, scoring his first Grade 1 win in his eighth attempt at that level.

Julien Leparoux will ride Heart to Heart and break from post position six.

In the 2016 Maker's 46 Mile, Heart to Heart finished 1¼ lengths behind Miss Temple City. In 2017, he was a neck behind American Patriot. Heart to Heart is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for this year's Maker's 46 Mile, which drew a 10-horse field.

"It's a very competitive field," Lynch said. "But he's training very well going into it, so we're quietly confident."

The Maker's 46 Mile will mark Heart to Heart's seventh start at Keeneland. During the 2017 Fall Meet, he finished second by a half-length to Suedois (FR) in the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1), and he won an allowance here during the 2014 Spring Meet.

Now in his sixth season of racing, Heart to Heart has 14 wins from 34 starts and has earned $1,737,290.

"We space his races and he tells us when he's ready and when he's not," Lynch said. "He's been a lovely, sound horse throughout his career, so we've been blessed with that. He's just a horse that with racing and time and maturity seems to have gotten better and better."

Lynch describes Heart to Heart as a "cool sitter and a go-getter," referring to the horse's calm and collected nature and consistent talent on the race track.

"He doesn't worry a bit. He (doesn't really act like a) colt," the trainer said. "For a full horse, he's a very kind horse to be around. He's very unassuming; you wouldn't even know he's in the barn."

Lynch said at this point in Heart to Heart's career, retirement does not appear imminent.

"While he's still happy and sound and competitive at that level," he said, "we'll continue to race him."

Michael Hui's Hogy, winner of the Canadian Turf (G3) at Gulfstream Park on March 3, has banked more than $1.3 million in his 50-race career that has produced 19 victories. Trained by Mike Maker, Hogy will be ridden by Jose Ortiz and break from post position 10.

After making his first 24 starts in Southern California, Sareen Family Trust's Om ships to Kentucky for the Maker's 46 Mile.

A four-time graded stakes winner trained by Dan Hendricks, Om comes to Kentucky off a sixth-place finish in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) on March 10. An earner of $1,001,990, Om will break from post position nine and be ridden by Flavien Prat.

The field for the Maker's 46 Mile, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Nileator (Robby Albarado, 118 pounds), Ballagh Rocks (Luis Saez, 118), Forge (GB) (Joel Rosario, 118), Tower of Texas (Jose Lezcano, 118), Frostmourne (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118), Heart to Heart (Leparoux, 123), Mr. Misunderstood (Florent Geroux, 118), Next Shares (Corey Nakatani, 118), Om (Prat, 118) and Hogy (Ortiz, 118).

Om Ventures East For Maker's 46 Mile

It has been 12 years since trainer Dan Hendricks has been in Kentucky, that coming on Derby Day 2006 when he saddled Brother Derek to finish in a dead-heat for fourth behind Barbaro in the Run for the Roses.

What brings Hendricks to Kentucky this time is the Sareen Family Trust's Om, one of the favorites for Friday's 30th running of the $300,000 Maker's 46 Mile (G1).

"I have nominated horses (in the East) before and I will ship anywhere as long as the horse fits," Hendricks said. "But there has been rain or logistical issues that prevented us from running."

The lure of the Maker's 46 Mile was twofold.

"We got an early start this year and the timing of this race was good for May," Hendricks said referring to races at Churchill Downs in early May or Santa Anita in late May. "Plus, this is a very prestigious race."

Om comes into Friday's race off a sixth-place finish in the Frank E. Kilroe (G1) at Santa Anita on March 10. Prior to that, Om ended a 12-race losing streak that spanned more than two years by winning the Thunder Road (G3).

"We never lost confidence in him," Hendricks said. "He was running second and third and in some of those, circumstances not always went his way."

Om finished second or third in eight of those races, 11 of which were graded. The toughest beat came in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita, where he came up a nose short of catching Obviously (IRE) at the wire.

The millionaire will be ridden Friday by Flavien Prat, who was aboard for the Thunder Road win.

Trainer Bill Mott Doubles Up For 2018 Maker's 46 Mile

Four trainers have won the Maker's 46 Mile (G1) twice. On Friday, Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott will try to become the first to win the race three times when he sends out Ballagh Rocks and Forge (GB).

Mott, who won the race with Ganges in 1993 and Mr. Sidney in 2009, is scheduled to be here Thursday. "Hall of Fame decision to leave me here in the snow," quipped son Riley Mott, who is overseeing the barn here, on Monday.

Owned by Donegal Racing and Head of Plains Partners, Ballagh Rocks arrived at Keeneland on Monday from Payson Park in South Florida.

The 5-year-old Stormy Atlantic horse was fourth in the Maker's 46 Mile last year and in the fall was third in the Shadwell Turf (G1), beaten a half-length in both.

"He is doing really well and has been training well," Riley Mott said. "He runs well fresh and gives us a lot of confidence."

Ballagh Rocks has not run since finishing ninth, beaten three lengths, in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) in November at Del Mar.

"He has had a few rough trips and in the Breeders' Cup, he didn't break and got stuck on the inside," Mott said. "He is a bit of an overachiever and it has been nice to watch him progress since he was a baby."

Juddmonte Farms' homebred Forge comes into Friday's race off a seventh-place finish in the Mervin Muniz Memorial (G2) at Fair Grounds on March 24.

"He has lots of talent but he's just not consistent," Mott said. "He needs to string good races together. In the Muniz, he didn't get the cover we wanted. He runs better covered up where he can produce his run late. If we get the trip we like, we think he is good enough."