Connected pips Broken Vow in Keeneland finale

LEXINGTON, KY - Connected wore down odds-on favorite Broken Vow in the final yards to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Fayette Stakes on Saturday, closing day of the Keeneland fall meet.

Connected, ridden by Marlon St Julien, overtook Broken Vow inside the sixteenth pole of the 1 1/8-mile race, prevailing by a half-length. It was 2 3/4 lengths back to Super Derby winner Outofthebox in third.

Broken Vow, whose connections chose to bypass the Breeders' Cup Classic in favor of the Fayette, pressed the early pace of Concerned Minister for most of the race, then took the lead from that rival at the quarter pole. Opening up a three-length lead in the stretch, Broken Vow became noticeably leg weary in the final jumps and was caught by Connected.

Connected, a 4-year-old gelded son of Twining, turned heads earlier in the meet with a last-to-first rally in the Warfield Stakes, in which he earned a Beyer figure of 114. Largely ignored by the Breeders' Cup Day crowd at Keeneland at 10-1, Connected ($22) emerged from the back of the pack in a similar style to capture his first graded stakes in the Fayette.

Owned by Helen Alexander and the Helen Groves Revocable Trust and trained by David Carroll, Connected extended his Keeneland record to 3 wins in 4 starts and his overall record to 8 wins in 21 starts with earnings now exceeding $400,000. St Julien has now won the Fayette twice in the last three years, his first coming in 1999 with Social Charter.