Hard Luck Justice has proven his luck has made a drastic turn. After only scoring one win in three starts at two, the Indiana bred gelding won his third straight race Wednesday in the 18th running of the $150,000 Governor’s Stakes at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Indiana.
Hard Luck Justice is known to be close to the pace early on, and the trip couldn’t have worked out better for jockey Sammy Bermudez. The duo left the gate alertly as Nobody Listens and Joe Ramos went straight for the lead. Hard Luck Justice settled into second behind the leader and was unchallenged most of the one mile and 70-yard event.
In the turn, Bermudez tipped Hard Luck Justice to the outside and that was all the gelding needed as a signal to advance. He began a big move to surpass Nobody Listens and had the lead at the top of the stretch. The son of Harry’s Holiday pinned his ears and got down to business, rallying home to an eight and one-half length advantage at the finish line for the win, his third straight trip to the winner’s circle. Nobody Listens was a solid second over A Few Too Many and Tommy Pompell, who maintained ground for third.
“I thought there would be a little more speed early on,” said Bermudez. “But we had good positioning, so we stayed right where we were. He knows where the wire is. Turning for home, he becomes a different horse and turns into all business.”
Hard Luck Justice, the favorite of the nine-horse field, paid $2.80 for the win. He is owned by Joselyn Vanesa Salazar and trained by Lonnie Hinds. He now has four wins in eight career starts with the latest stakes win, his second of 2021, moving his career bankroll over the $200,000 mark.
“He’s just a good horse,” said Hinds. “We just keep him happy and keep him in shape. We take it easy on him. We thought he was a good horse at the beginning of the year, but he’s better than we thought.”
