Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association of New Jersey
Patrick Moquin, DRF
Happy Offering, a steadily improving gelding owned by Prancing Horse Farm and trained by Chuck Spina, earned his first New Jersey-bred stakes victory in the $100,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap on Sunday at Monmouth Park.
The 4-year-old gelding bred by Carmine Spinella has won three of his last four starts at home.
Jockey Paco Lopez swept the three statebred stakes and earned four victories on the card. Monmouth’s leading rider gave Happy Offering an ideal stalking trip in the Hesse, chasing in second and easily kicking past the early pacesetter J J Zo Zo on the far turn.
“I really liked him today,” Spina said. “He ran great sprinting, but he's better around two turns, and the last time he ran around two turns, Paco rode him and he won. I was lucky enough to get him back and it was all good.”
In six starts this year, Happy Offering has finished worse than second only once, when he ran sixth in the $75,000 Irish War Cry Handicap on turf in July. He has won his last three races on dirt, culminating in his 1 1/4-length stakes score at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday. He was bet down to even money and paid $4.20 to win.
The last-out turf stakes winner J J Zo Zo, who held a short lead through an opening quarter-mile in 23.37 seconds and half-mile in 46.69, faded to third on the far turn but re-rallied for trainer Cesar Alcala. He vied with the Rory Huston-trained gelding Forever Chocolate in the stretch and battled back to take second by a length.
The scrap for a minor prize never seemed likely to bother Happy Offering on the lead, though the gelding did cede some late ground while finishing up under Lopez. He completed the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:43.02.
“He won easy,” Spina said. “I thought he would. I ran seven today and I had some thirds and fourths, but he was the one that I liked the most.”
Spina said he would likely try to enter Happy Offering in at least one more race before giving him the winter to rest.