Belmont: Easy win for Timo in Pilgrim

ELMONT, N.Y. - Timo was an easy winner of his stakes debut in the $82,525 Pilgrim.

Timo, under John Velazquez, pressed pacesetter Unbuckle through dawdling fractions of 1:20.45 for six furlongs before drawing away in the stretch for a 2 1/4-length win over the favorite, Artie Schiller. It was another length back to Milestone Victory in third. Cool Conductor, Tynan, Unbuckle, and Kennel Up completed the order of finish in the 1 1/8-mile turf race for 2-year-olds.

Timo ($8.60) covered the distance in an extremely slow 1:57.56 over the yielding inner turf. It was Velazquez's fourth win in the last six runnings of the Pilgrim, and his third on Sunday's card.

Bill Badgett Jr., who won the Pilgrim with Cryptic Rascal in 1997, trains Timo, a son of El Prado, for owner and breeder C.K. Woods Stables.