Heavily favored Alpha, sent off at odds of 1-4, took the Withers Stakes (gr. III) this afternoon at Aqueduct in dominating fashion.
Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and racing in the blue silks of Godolphin Racing, Alpha got off to a good beginning from the outside post position under jockey Ramon Dominguez and settled into the fourth position early on as How Do I Win set a moderate pace of :23.71 and :48.04. Hakama was racing on the outside in second, followed by 44-1 shot Speightscity in third toward the rail. Tiger Walk was back in fifth, with King Kid trailing the field.
How Do I Win continued to show the way down the backstretch and around the far turn, but was beginning to face pressure from Hakama as the field approached the three-eighths pole. Then Alpha made his bid on the far outside, and as the field turned for home the heavy favorite burst clear of the field and opened up a decisive advantage. Speightscity came on mildly to finish second, but was never a threat to Alpha, who coasted home a winner by three lengths, stopping the clock for a mile and a sixteenth in 1:44.23.
Tiger Walk finished third over a tiring How Do I Win, while King Kid and Hakama completed the order of finish.
-Keelerman
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