G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s Rey de Café stretched out to a mile and an eighth on Friday afternoon and promptly scored his second straight graded stakes win as he outfinished Prince Rahy by a nose in the 31st running of the Grade 3, $114,700 Hill Prince for three-year-olds on the inner turf course. The Kingmambo colt, who has now won four of 10 starts, carried 123 pounds and conceded from three to seven pounds to eight rivals in the Hill Prince. It was the second race he won by a nose and, as the favorite of the crowd of 11,730, he continued to add to his fan base.
It was a wild finish in 1:49 1/5 on the firm going, but Re de Café prevailed with Classic Campaign a neck back in third. The winner returned $5.90. "I think (Javier Castellano, jockey) claimed `foul,' when he pulled up because he didn't know had won," said winning trainer George 'Rusty' Arnold. "He's small and was carrying more weight the others. I am really proud of him because he is a fighter. I think if you add up all of his turf races he has probably been beaten a length altogether. He's improving. I was questioning whether or not he wanted a mile and an eighth. He did it. It's hard to tell because he just does enough to win. We're going to ask him for a little bit more. We're going to try the Virginia Derby at a mile and a quarter [Grade 3, Colonial Downs, July 16]. You have to give it a chance. It is a $750,000 race."
It was the second stakes winner of the afternoon for jockey Javier Castellano. "When you're riding, you don't realize when you are right at the wire," Castellano said. "I wasn't sure if I had it. Someone hit me behind. My horse really took a bad step. I looked at Coa (jockey Eibar Coa on Prince Rahy) and he said `I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' It wasn't his fault. I had some good horses to ride today, and I want to thank the trainers that put me on them. "
George Steinbrenner's Beacon Shine and Javier Castellano got there first in the $105,100 Flash Stakes earlier in the day. Union Course and Richard Migliore finished second. Favorite Speed of Sound, under John Velazquez, was third. "They were 'ding-donging' there, and if they were going farther than five furlongs, I probably wouldn't have liked it too much," said winning trainer Bill Mott.
Beacon Shine - a Florida-bred son of Montbrook, out of Unlimited Pleasure (Valid Appeal) - paid $6.60 to win the 5-furlong sprint for juvenile colts. He is now 2-0-1 from three starts with earnings of $101,680 for Kinsman Stable. "This is the two-year-old type," said Mott, a Hall of Famer known for patience with young horses. "He's probably the first one I've had like this in a while. He's bred to be rapid: he's built that way and he is. He is a fun horse. We have no plans at this time. We'll wait and see how he is."
Beacon Shine and Speed of Sound went to the lead from the gate and set fractions of :21 4/5 and :45 1/5 while running neck and neck. Union Course closed on the outside to make the three-horse photo. Beacon Shine, in the middle, won in :58 1/5. "The first time watching this race (replay) I thought the inside horse (Speed of Sound) won," Mott said. "The second time I saw it, I thought the outside horse (Union Course) won."
"I had a lot of confidence in the horse," Castellano said. "The first time, he was very impressive. The second time, he had a trouble trip at Churchill Downs; it was Kentucky Derby day and he was nervous because there were a lot of people in the paddock. He settled down good today. He was very relaxed. I knew I had to beat Speed of Sound. I did it. I put my horse right on him."
Castellano's luck ran out in the 10th and last race of the day, however, as he was unseated at the gate by Oh Lucy, forcing a late scratch. Castellano left by ambulance.
