March by a Hair in the Woody Stephens

When the heavily favored Competitive Edge came up completely empty on the far turn, the Grade 2 Woody Stephens became a wide open race. It also became a thriller, as the Chad Brown-trained March rallied resolutely up the Belmont Park rail to collar and nail Cinco Charlie on the wire.

With Competitive Edge taking up the lion’s share of the betting money at 2-5 in the seven-furlong affair, it left some very good sprinting three-year-olds with juicy odds on the toteboard. Among them were a pair of colts coming in off stakes win in their latest, in March and Cinco Charlie, who were both sent to the post at odds of 10-1.

The six-time stakes winner, Cinco Charlie broke on top, but was quickly challenged from the inside by the Swale winner, Ready for Rye. The pair sped through early splits of :22.22 and :45.02. Meanwhile, the overwhelming choice was sandwiched in between March, to his inside, and Classy Class to his outside. With Cinco Charlie and Ready for Rye going at it tooth and nail on the front end, Competitive Edge was the first to throw in the towel. March, on the hand, moved in while continuing to hug the rail.

At the head of the lane, it was a three-horse battle. The embattled early leaders had been joined by the Bay Shore winner on their inside, and the race was on. Ready for Rye was the first to wilt from the testing early fractions, but Cinco Charlie still looked very strong on the outside. March kept reeling him in, slowly but surely, though, and the last fifty yards became a thrilling, head-bobbing fight to the wire.

March, ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. just stuck his nose in front of an extremely game Cinco Charlie, ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr., to earn a hard-fought victory. Ready for Rye held on for third, but 5 1/2-lengths behind the top two.

"Last time I liked the way he ran in the sprint race [Bay Shore],” said Ortiz. “Today he broke a little more sharp, so we were a little closer. I just left him there, I don't fight with him too much. When we got to the stretch he took off. He was ready, the trainer did a great job."

March is a Kentucky-bred son of Blame, out of the Unbridled’s Song mare, Lifeinthefastlane. Owned by Robert LaPenta, he improved his lifetime record to 5-3-1-0, as he won his second consecutive graded stakes score, having edged Lord Nelson in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct on Wood Memorial Day. Bred by Lakeland Farm, he raised his lifetime earnings total to $512,500.

While last year's Woody Stephens winner, Bayern, went on to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, this year's winner looks to have found his niche sprinting.

“Obviously, the [seven furlong] distance - he's a come-from-behind sprinter - and he runs really well fresh,” said the winning trainer, Chad Brown. “He came off a layoff in the Bay Shore, and he ran so well we figured 'You know, let's just give him another layoff into the big race.' When it came up tough, we were really just hoping to grab a piece of it, and like races often can on big racing days, when they broke, everything changed. We were in a great spot, and our horse showed up."