Citizen holds on for upset

Citizen held off a surging trio of rivals to pull a 25-1 upset in the $50,000 Mountain Valley Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. He won by a head over Flying Private, while it was three-quarters of a length back in third to Lyin' Heart. Dance Caller, the 6-5 favorite, finished another neck back in fourth after being boxed in around the turn.

Citizen ($60) removed blinkers for the race and ran back to his win in the $54,000 Meadowlake last October at Hawthorne Race Course. He was part of a four-way pace war Saturday with Big Push, Doc Posse, and N.Y. Wise Guy, who raced through an opening quarter in 22.24 seconds. Citizen, who was on the rail, moved to the fore after a half-mile in 46.56 and went on to cover the six furlongs on a track rated fast in 1:11.62.

Jon Court rode the winner for trainer Bernie Flint. Citizen came into the Mountain Valley off a fifth-place finish in the $50,000 Black Gold at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Fair Grounds on Jan. 31. He earned $30,000 for the win, which was his third from 10 career starts. Citizen, who is a son of City Zip, races for L T B Inc. and Naveed Chowhan.

The Mountain Valley was run under a snow flurry. Attendance ontrack was 15,273.