State of Play rebounded from a poor effort in last month's Sam F. Davis Stakes (gr. III) to win the $75,000 John Battaglia Stakes at Turfway Park by the narrowest of noses.
Ridden to victory by Victor Lebron, the son of War Front settled into the second position early on as Ill Conceived set a slow pace of :24.69 and :49.83. Dynamical was down toward the inside in third, followed by heavily favored Mr. Prankster and Posey Rose.
Rounding the far turn, Ill Conceived drifted off the fence just a bit, allowing State of Play to sneak through along the rail to challenge for the lead. The two colts matched strides into the homestretch, with State of Play taking over a narrow advantage on the fence through three-quarters of a mile in 1:14.69. Dynamical was on the outside, trying to gain ground on the leaders, but wasn't really able to close the margin. Mr. Prankster and Posey Rose were both failing to present a challenge.
State of Play continued to lead into deep stretch, but Ill Conceived was still gamely clinging to his outside and began to re-close the gap inside the final sixteenth. The pair hit the wire together, with the photo finish camera showing State of Play in front by a nose. The final time for the one-mile and a sixteenth race was 1:46.55.
Dynamical finished clearly third, while Mr. Prankster and Posey Rose completed the order of finish. The winner is owned by Team Valor International and trained by Graham Motion, the same connections of the 2011 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Animal Kingdom.
-Keelerman
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