Somelikeithotbrown

After an unplaced finish in his career debut in an off-the-turf race on a loppy main track at Saratoga in July, Somelikeithotbrown drew clear to an eight-length runaway in August at the Spa in a 1 1/8-mile turf race. He followed with a second-place finish to Opry in the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes before running second again in the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes on Sept. 29 at Belmont Park. Somelikeithotbrown then headed west to Churchill Downs, where he raced in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and finished a close third after leading much of the race.

Somelikeithotbrown returned for his 3-year-old campaign in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes on Feb. 17, held at Turfway Park on the synthetic Polytrack surface. He won convincingly by 3 1/2 lengths. The Battaglia Memorial is Turfway's prep for the Jeff Ruby Steaks, a Kentucky Derby points race held at the Northern Kentucky track. In the Jeff Ruby Steaks, Somelikeithotbrown pressed the early pace and seized command through a half-mile in 47.03 seconds. He edged clear in the stretch under Tyler Gaffalione and pulled away to win by 3 1/4 lengths as the 3-5 favorite and earn 20 qualifying points for the 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. He subsequently finished fourth in the Grade 2, $1 million Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.

Somelikeithotbrown did not race again in 2019, and posted a disappointing 11^th-place finish in his 2020 debut on Gulfstream Park in January. But his form subsequently improved when he shipped to Turfway Park; Somelikeithotbrown won an allowance optional claiming race there and then checked in second to Nun the Less in the listed TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes.

Trainer Mike Maker then wheeled his colt back into graded stakes company in the Fort Marcy Stakes on turf at Belmont Park in June, where he finished third. That set Somelikeithotbrown up for a start in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap on July 26 at Saratoga, and he scored an upset win by a length at 8.80-1 odds after setting the pace under Gaffalione.

Somelikeithotbrown won the first stakes race of his 4-year-old season on May 15, 2021 at Pimlico. He won the Grade 2 Dinner Party Stakes while showing a new dimension. Jose Ortiz decided to rate him off the early pace, then moved after the leader in the stretch. It paid off, as he held off the closers for the one-length win. His time of 1:40.09 for 1 1/16 miles marked a new track record.

Later in the season, Somelikeithotbrown won the Mohawk Stakes at Belmont Park, for his second consecutive victory in that race. He defeated a field of fellow New York-breds by half a length as the 3-5 choice. 

Winless in three starts to begin his 2022 campaign, Somelikeithotbrown returned to the winners’ circle with a six-length romp in the off-the-turf West Point Stakes Presented by Trustco Bank on a muddy track Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course. He used that confidence builder as a springboard to a determined victory in the WinStar Mint Million Stakes Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs.