Include Me Out won her second grade I of the season when she held off a late run from Star Billing to take the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (gr. I) in exciting fashion.
Ridden to victory by Joe Talamo, Include Me Out was content to settle into the fifth position early on as Great Hot and Switch exchanged the lead through fractions of :23.19 and :46.65. Kayce Ace and Zafeen's Pearl were next, while Quaintly, Star Billing, and the nearly undefeated Chilean superhorse Amani were the early trailers.
Moving around the far turn, Switch put away Great Hot while running three-quarters of a mile in 1:10.63 and brought a two-length lead into the final five-sixteenths of a mile. But Include Me Out was advancing rapidly along the rail, saving ground and cutting into Switch's lead with every stride. Include Me Out struck the front prior to the eighth pole, and appeared to be on her way to an easy victory, but she was soon confronted by Star Billing, who charged fast inside the final sixteenth to miss victory by a neck.
The final time was 1:41.96 seconds, just 0.48 seconds off of the track record set by Zenyatta in 2008. Amani rallied well for third, and in no way disgraced herself while making his first start in this country. She seemed to handle the Polytrack well enough, but a return to dirt when Santa Anita opens for its fall meet should only help Amani's chances further down the road.
Switch, Quaintly, Zafeen's Pearl, Kayce Ace, and Great Hot completed the order of finish. The winner is owned by Jay Em Ess Stable and trained by Ron Ellis.
-Keelerman
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