Mr. Misunderstood wins Wise Dan Stakes; World Approval misses board

As Mr. Misunderstood announced himself at the Grade 2 level on Saturday night, turf champion World Approval suffered his second straight defeat, with the two Churchill Downs-based horses seemingly headed in opposite directions at this point in their careers.

Taking a stalking trip under Florent Geroux, Mr. Misunderstood ranged up on the far turn, saved ground on the rail and surged past pace-setting Mr. Cub in the final strides of the $200,000 Wise Dan Stakes.

“He’s a very neat horse," Geroux said. "He’s not the most gifted, but he’s a very big horse, and he keeps improving. Now he showed he can compete at a higher level.”

Inspector Lynley earned the runner-up spot narrowly over Mr. Cub.

Mr. Misunderstood is a 4-year-old trained by Brad Cox who's now 3-for-3 ob the Churchill Downs turf. Overall, the Archarcharch colt has now won 10 races.

“We thought he moved forward from 3 to 4," Cox said. "He did.”

“It’s crazy that he’s just halfway through his 4-year-old year with double-digit wins," said owner Staton Flurry.

Mr. Misunderstood's final time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:41.83.