A son of Outofthebox, Hypocrite won the Super Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs last out on Feb. 7 after finishing second and third in two stakes at Calder behind Yesbyjimminy late last year. Rose Family Stable’s 5-year-old Hal’s My Hope finished third in the field of six Florida-breds, 2¾ lengths behind the runner-up. Hypocrite paid $5.40 to win as the second choice and was timed in 1:23:40 over the fast track.
Manoel Cruz:
“We stumbled very bad when the horse broke from the gate. Thankfully, it wasn’t a fast pace and he was able to get into stride. I knew I had a quality horse and he proved it in the final quarter. I knew it was going to be close, but when you have good horse you’re never out (of contention).”
Winning Trainer Quote:
Manny Tortora
“It scared me when he stumbled so bad at the start, but it may have been for the best. If he broke sharp, he might have ended up too close to the pace and then flattened out. That’s three horses I’ve had here stumble and break bad out of the one hole. He’s a nice horse. He goes two turns when we try him and he worked good on the grass here (Jan. 25), so there are a lot of options. We (Tortora’s family) got the mare, so that’s good too.”
Fractions:
23:45, 46:35, 1:10:79 & 1:23:40