Jim Allen's Hardest Part outruns odds to leave door open for another turf tilt

Jim Allen may give his Godolphin cast-off Hardest Part another chance to win a turf race in the United States after the six-year-old ran a stormer to finish third at Aqueduct on Sunday.

The former top racecourse executive in Britain has been training in the US but plans to return home, and after Hardest Part had got off the mark on the Tapeta at Presque Isle Downs, Allen's goal was to land a turf prize before Hardest Part has to go into quarantine.

He had been hoping for an opportunity at Laurel Park, but with the turf racing campaign coming to an earlier-than-expected close there, he was forced to aim Hardest Part at a tougher race at Aqueduct.

Starting at 47-1 in a field of seven, Hardest Part finished a close-up and unlucky third behind the Todd Pletcher-trained Bourbon In May.

"He came flying down the outside and got squeezed," reported Allen. "I thought he was going to win it. There was interference and I think it definitely cost us second. I think he should have got second in the stewards' room, but he didn't.

"He's run so well back on fast turf, a blinder in fact, that he may have one more run now, if he's okay before the end of the month."

Cheap buy but tough nut

Hardest Part was bought by Allen at Ascot sales for £3,000, having broken a leg when with Godolphin.

Aside from injury, Hardest Part has also had to overcome in the US, according to his trainer a "very close encounter with an Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake, a million black and brown widow spiders and Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew".

Allen spent 15 years with Arena Racing Company, latterly as director of racing, before crossing the Atlantic for a change of career. He spent time assisting the legendary Michael Dickinson before training in his own right, but feels it is a suitable time to return home to Britain.

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