Baltimore BC Turf: My Lord springs upset

BALTIMORE - My Lord, who had just one horse beaten turning for home, rallied strongly despite constantly switching leads in the stretch to get up and win the $94,500 by three-quarters of a length over the 8-5 favorite, Southern Missile. It was a nose back to 32-1 longshot Spring Kitten.

Ridden by apprentice Rosie Napravnik, My Lord was last of nine down the backstretch as Sarah's Prospect drilled an opening quarter-mile in 21.72 seconds. Procreate took over from Sarah's Prospect at the three-eighths pole, but the closers were on the move turning for home. Southern Missile took the lead in deep stretch, but My Lord, who was at least in the eight path in the stretch, came flying to get the job done.

My Lord, a 7-year-old gelded son of Lord Carson, covered the five furlongs in 57.40 seconds over firm turf and returned $17 to win.

"She always seems to come on strong at the end," said Napravnik, who won two of the first five races on the card. "In races like this, sometimes they go fast early and you can't catch them. Sometimes they go fast early and stop."

It was the third win from nine starts for My Lord since trainer Ann Merryman and owner David Ross claimed him from Michael Gill for $25,000 in June 2004. Overall, it was the ninth win from 36 starts for My Lord.