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 Kentuckky 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.