Hush of a Storm, Wait for Nairobi rally to win new Derby/Oaks qualifiers at Turfway

Feb 27, 2021 by James Scully/TwinSpires.com

Turfway Park featured new qualifiers for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks on Friday evening.

Hush of a Storm survived an inquiry and objection to post a minor upset in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial S., and Wait for Nairobi recorded a 15-1 surprise in the $65,000 Cincinnati Trophy S.

The winners picked up 10 points toward a Derby/Oaks berth in their stakes debut.

Hush of a Storm lugged in while charging to the fore in the 1 1/16-mile Battaglia Memorial, edging away to a 1 1/2-length decision. Runner-up Like the King, third-placer Gretzky the Great, and fourth Hard Rye Guy all experienced a rough trip in the bumpy stretch run.

Stewards made no change after reviewing the incident.

Catman, Twirling Mamba, Fort Moultrie, Pico d’Oro, Notable Exception, The Predicament, and Bakwena completed the order of finish.

Hush of a Storm has now won three straight for the Joseph P. Morey Jr. Revocable Trust. The Bill Morey-trained stalker rallied from midpack to prove best with Santiago Gonzalez, stopping the teletimer in 1:44 on Polytrack.

The New York-bred Creative Cause colt was the 6-1 third choice among 11 runners. Hush of a Storm was exiting maiden special weight and entry-level allowance wins at Turfway.

Wait for Nairobi closed boldly to win going away by two lengths in the 6 1/2-furlong Cincinnati Trophy. Edgar Morales was up for trainer Rey Hernandez, and the Carpe Diem filly finished in 1:17.64.

Owned and bred by Hartwell Farm and SF Racing, Wait for Nairobi placed in four of her first five starts before graduating via disqualification in a Jan. 15 maiden special weight at Turfway Park.

Phantom Vision easily held second after pressing the pace. Igloo, the 9-5 favorite and pacesetter, wound up third. Pledge took fourth, and she was followed by Just Read It, Dirty Dangle, Lichita, and Devil’s Advocate.