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Turf champion Wise Dan showed he was in fine form to defend his Breeders' Cup Mile crown when he cut down his rivals with a breathtaking stretch run to win the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Saturday.
Sent off 9-10 favourite against some of North America's top milers, the popular seven-year-old had to overcome a degree of adversity before landing the first seven-figure prize on his home track for trainer Charlie LoPresti and jockey John Velazquez.
Wise Dan has now won his last 14 races on turf for 23 wins in 31 career starts, among them seven graded-stakes wins at Keeneland.
He has been beaten only twice, and never on turf, since October 2011 and has won 11 G1 race in total.
LoPresti has left the door ajar for a crack at net month’s Breeders' Cup Classic on dirt but owner Mort Fink told the Blood-Horse he would be following his tried-and-tested path and staying on turf in a bid to complete a hat-trick in the BC Mile.
"He's going where he's always gone, I see no reason to change anything," Fink said.
Wise Dan could run on dirt before the end of the year as the G1 Clark Handicap at the end of November is also an option as it is a race he won in 2011 before earning legendary status on turf.
In the Turf Mile Wise Dan made a slow start with the dual Horse of the Year last of the eight runners and in trouble as he came into the stretch in sixth place and forced to rally six wide.
It took him a while to get into full stride but once Wise Dan got moving he was able to sweep past his rivals in the final furlong to score by a length and record his fourth win in a season interrupted by colic surgery.
"His head was turned sideways and he missed the break a little bit but that's the same kind of thing that happened to him in the Breeders' Cup last year," said LoPresti, who admitted to mid-race concerns.
“The way this unfolded, for him to win the way he did, he ran a great race. Johnny did a great job; he didn't panic.
"He stumbled for a few steps out of the gate. He wasn't where we wanted him to be but he still overcame it."
“He's just an incredible horse. That's all I can say, thank God."
Velazquez dominated the Keeneland meeting winning all three G1 races.
He took the G1 Dixiana Breeders' Futurity for Todd Pletcher when Carpe Diem, a $1.6m yearling purchase at the Ocala horses-in-training sale, annihilated his rivals in the Breeders' Futurity.
Owned in partnership by WinStar Farm and Stonestreet Stables, the son of Giant's Causeway ensured he will be a major contender for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile as he cleared away in the stretch to score by more than six lengths.
IUt caped a big day for Pletcher as he also saddled the maiden Daredevil to win the G1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont in New York.
In the G1 First Lady Stakes for the fillies and mares over a mile on turf the same two horses that filled the first two places 12 months ago came home in a different order as Velazquex scored on the Chad Brown-trained Dayatthespa, turning the tables on Godolphin's Better Lucky.
It was the second G1 victory for Dayathespa after her success in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the same venue two years ago.
