Revolutionary overcomes terrible trip in Withers Stakes

3-4 favorite Revolutionary overcame a terrible trip to win the $200,000 Withers Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct by a neck, proving to all who saw his performance that he is among the finest three-year-old colts in the country.

With Javier Castellano aboard, Revolutionary broke a step slowly at the beginning of the mile and a sixteenth race, and thus found himself in sixth place early on as Siete de Oros led the way through an opening quarter mile of :24.22 seconds. Escapefromreality and Smooth Bert were his closest pursuers, followed by Amerigo Vespucci, Long River, Revolutionary, Champion Boy, and Valid, who stumbled to his knees at the start and caused his rider to lose an iron.

Siete de Oros continued to lead the way through a half-mile in :48.18, but behind him, there were several position changes. Smooth Bert moved up to draw within a head of the front, while Long River cruised up on the outside to secure third position. Amerigo Vespucci was maintaining his position in fourth, while Escapefromreality was back to fifth. Champion Boy and Valid were next, while Revolutionary was dead last with about 4-1/2 furlongs to go.

As the field moved around the far turn, Siete de Oros boldly clung to his advantage over Smooth Bert, getting three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.48 seconds to enter the stretch still narrowly in front. In the meantime, Revolutionary had only Valid beaten, and was down along the rail with nowhere to run.

Back up front, Siete de Oros had opened up a one-length lead past the eighth pole, but Escapefromreality was moving up strongly to challenge for the lead and appeared to be on his way to victory.

But behind them, Revolutionary was building up steam, working his way between horses to reach contention. With just seventy yards to go, he was third; only the two leaders were left to pass. There was a narrow gap between them. With unprecedented acceleration Revolutionary exploded through the opening, getting up in time to beat Escapefromreality by a head in 1:44.32 seconds.

Siete de Oros tired just a bit in deep stretch, finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind the top pair in third. Amerigo Vespucci, Champion Boy, Smooth Bert, Valid, and Long River completed the order of finish.

The winner is owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher. A son of War Pass out of the A.P. Indy mare Runup The Colors, Revolutionary has now compiled a record of 2-1-2 from five starts, with earnings of $188,500.

-Keelerman

Withers Stakes Entries: Revolutionary makes stakes debut

Revolutionary, a highly-promising maiden winner from the barn of Todd Pletcher, will make his much-anticipated stakes debut in the $200,000 Withers Stakes (gr. III) on Saturday at Aqueduct.

A son of War Pass out of the grade I-winning A.P. Indy mare Runup the Colors, Revolutionary began his career with a trio of defeats to such talented runners as Orb, Clawback, Always in a Tiz, and Little Distorted. He finally found the winner's circle in his fourth start, defeating next-out winner Transparent by 8 1/2 lengths in a one-mile maiden special weight at Aqueduct. His performance was impressive enough to make Revolutionary the likely favorite in the Withers.

Javier Castellano will ride the colt, who is owned by WinStar Farm.

Siete de Oros, Amerigo Vespucci, and Long River -- the 2-3-4 finishers in last month's Jerome Stakes (gr. II) at Aqueduct -- are among Revolutionary's primary opposition. Damon Runyon Stakes winner Smooth Bert and impressive maiden winner Valid are also expected to contend. The lightly-raced Escapefromreality and maiden Champion Boy complete the lineup.

Post Positions:
1 Long River
2 Valid
3 Revolutionary
4 Escapefromreality
5 Amerigo Vespucci
6 Siete de Oros
7 Champion Boy
8 Smooth Bert

-Keelerman