The Lumber Guy cuts down rivals in Vosburgh Stakes

The Lumber Guy, part of an entry that included the highly-regarded Sean Avery, left his entry mate behind in the Belmont homestretch to win the $400,000 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes (gr. I) by 1 1/4 lengths.

Ridden to victory by John Velazquez, The Lumber Guy got away to decent start at the beginning of the six-furlong sprint and soon settled into third position, tracking a moderate pace of :22.57 and :45.06 seconds set by Poseidon's Warrior and Little Drama. Sean Avery was tucked along the rail in the fourth position, followed then by Zero Rate Policy, Justin Phillip, Rothko, Fort Loudon, and Caixa Eletronica.

Poseidon's Warrior continued to lead into the homestretch and to the eighth pole, but The Lumber Guy was making a strong challenge on the outside and soon took over the advantage. Sean Avery briefly loomed a threat along the rail, but flattened out. The only serious challenge came from Caixa Eletronica, who rallied quickly in the homestretch to get up for second, but The Lumber Guy easily held him off to win decisively in 1:09.22 seconds.

Poseidon's Warrior outfinished Little Drama for third, while Sean Avery, Justin Phillip, Fort Loudon, Zero Rate Policy, and Rothko completed the order of finish.

The winner is trained by Mike Hushion and owned by Barry Schwartz.

-Keelerman

Vosburgh Stakes Entries: Wide-open sprint draws field of 10

2012 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (gr. I) winner Poseidon's Warrior, 2011 Alfred G. Vanderbilt winner Sean Avery, and eight-time stakes winner Royal Currier are among a wide-open field of field of ten sprinters that have been entered in the $400,000 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes (gr. I), to be run on Saturday at Belmont Park.

The six-furlong race, which is a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), lacks any clear-cut favorite, and all ten of the entrants have won stakes races. It figures to be among the closest and most exciting races of the "Super Saturday" card at Belmont Park.

Post Positions

PP	Horse	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	Poseidon's Warrior	114	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Robert E. Reid, Jr.
2	Little Drama	114	Rajiv Maragh	Michael Mareina
3	Zero Rate Policy	114	Jose Lezcano	Teresa M. Pompay
4	Sean Avery	124	Joe Bravo	Allen Iwinski
5	The Lumber Guy	119	John Velazquez	Mike Hushion
6	Fort Loudon	124	Corey Nakatani	Nick Zito
7	Rothko	114	Julien Leparoux	Steve Asmussen
8	Royal Currier	122	Stewart Elliott	Patricia Farro
9	Caixa Eletronica	114	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher
10	Justin Phillip	122	Ramon Dominguez	Steve Asmussen

-Keelerman

James Marvin Stakes Entries and Post Positions

Here are the entries and post positions for the $100,000 James Marvin Stakes (gr. III), to be run on Friday at Saratoga, the opening day of the 2012 meet. The seven-furlong sprint will be run as a grade III for the first time this year, and has thus drawn a strong and competitive field of seven, led by last year's winner Jackson Bend, True North Handicap (gr. II) winner Caixa Eletronica, the promising Crossbow, and grade III stakes winner Pacific Ocean.

1 Caixa Eletronica
2 Scotus
3 Golddigger's Boy
4 Crossbow
5 Pacific Ocean
6 Zero Rate Policy
7 Jackson Bend

-Keelerman

SOARING STOCKS WINS THE FLORIDA SUNSHINE MILLIONS SPRINT!

Soaring Socks wore down front-running Royal Currier deep in the Gulfstream Park homestretch to win the Florida Sunshine Millions Sprint by a neck.

Under John Velazquez, Soaring Socks settled back into third early on as Royal Currier opened up a sizable early lead on the field. Madman Diaries was back rating in second, while favored Apriority was racing back in fourth on the outside of Zero Rate Policy. Ribo Bobo was down in between horses in sixth, while Cajun Breeze and It's Never Too Late trailed the field.