The third race of the day at Churchill -- run over a track that has been upgraded to "fast" -- was won in game fashion by Skyring, with Corey Nakatani aboard. The 15-1 shot got off to a good start and raced in second early on while dueling with Calvin Borel's mount, Fleurdefortyfour. The pair opened up a large lead heading down the backstretch of the 1 1/16th miles event. Golden Ticket, with Julien Leparoux aboard, was back if fifth early on.
Rounding the far turn, the field began to catch up to the two runaway leaders, and when Golden Ticket surged into contention on the far outside, he looked ready to take over the lead. In fact, he did, sticking his head in front at the top of the stretch. But Skyring came back at him gamely and re-claimed the lead, holding his advantage to the wire to win by a head in 1:43.27.
The next race of the day was scheduled to be a 1 1/16th miles turf race, but the race was switched to the main track in order to preserve the turf course for the graded stakes races later in the day. As a result, six horse scratched, including morning line favorite Souper Spectacular. Derby Kitten, the winner of last year's Lexington Stakes (gr. III), will likely go off as the favorite with Joel Rosario aboard. Julien Leparoux and Calvin Borel do not have mounts.
-Keelerman
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