Hard Luck Prayer prevails in $150,000 Governor’s Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Hard Luck Prayer and Andres Ulloa closed out the Thoroughbred portion of the Patriots Day racing program Friday with a win in the 23^rd running of the $150,000 Governor’s Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The duo scored the win in the one mile, 70 yard race in a time of 1:43.11.

Hard Luck Prayer began from post two and was immediately inserted into the early speed scenario. Horses were fanned out across the track seeking good early positioning up front before the first turn arrived, which was being held down by Q’s Topnotch and Amir Mendoza along the inside. Hard Luck Prayer was sitting to his outside and keeping track of the early pace.

Down the backside, two other horses joined them with Brazilian Conexao and Orlando Bocachica moving up between Q’s Topnotch and Hard Luck Prayer. Sly Guy and Sammy Bermudez were four wide. All four horses traveled together past the halfway marker before Sly Guy moved on to grab a short lead.

Coming into the stretch, it was anyone’s race to win. Sly Guy was maintaining his position on top until midway through the lane, Hard Luck Prayer came back on him and moved through to retake the lead. Hard Luck Prayer was well under wraps by Ulloa as they crossed under the wire a two and one-half length winner. Sly Guy finished a solid second over Magus Gold and Evin Roman, who got the edge from a six horse photo for third.

With the exception of his first start last year, Ulloa has been the only jockey aboard Hard Luck Prayer during his career, and Ulloa has been aboard for all four of the sophomore’s wins.

“First of all, I want to thank the owners and Bob (Gorham) for this opportunity,” said Ulloa, a native of Chile. “And a special thanks to Bob’s team and to his assistant, Froilan Flores, who has done such a great job with this horse. He is such a nice horse, and I feel I understand him from last year. I felt a nice connection with him. He had a little bit of everything thrown at him today. He felt the pressure on the inside and the outside and still came back to win.”

Hard Luck Prayer, who has been consistent throughout his career, was the favorite of the field, paying $5.80 for the win. The Indiana sired son of Prayer for Relief, who passed away recently, is owned by Mast Thoroughbreds and trained by Robert Gorham. Connie Pass, Chuck Harmon, and John Eubank are the breeders on the gelding, who earned his fourth win in seven starts for 2026 and has only finished back of third one time in 10 career starts for his connections.

“I’m very happy for Connie (Pass) and Chuck (Harmon), the breeders,” noted Gorham. “They have raced with us for many years, even back in the days of racing in Michigan. This is the best horse they’ve raised since that time. They had a Michigan Horse of the Year many years ago. They wanted to take advantage of the lucrative Indiana breeding program, and this shows the reason why. The program pays breeders well and this is a big one right here.”

Gorham maintains a stable in Indiana each year and has invested in the state’s program. For more than a decade, he has competed in state-bred and sired events and is in second place among all trainers for most premier racing wins at Horseshoe Indianapolis with 25 titles heading into this season.

Hard Luck Prayer is the latest graduate from Gorham’s program to become a premier racing winner.

“This horse (Hard Luck Prayer) has been solid all along and eats up well,” added Gorham. “But it is difficult to keep a horse at the top. At the beginning of the year, they need to be ready, but you can’t pressure them too much because all the nuggets (premier races) are closer to the end. So it’s hard to keep them going because you have to be fit and ready for the end of the meet. It’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge we like in this business.”

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