Delaware Oaks: St. John's River overtakes Strike the Moon just before wire

Dropping back to last usually spells trouble at a speed-favoring track like Delaware Park. So when deep closer St. John’s River lagged in seventh after the first six furlongs of Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile Delaware Oaks, her chances didn’t look good.

Nor did the picture appear much brighter when St. John’s River was fourth, 4 1/2 lengths behind pacesetter Strike the Moon, with a furlong remaining.

But under Jose Lezcano, a late substitution for the injured Rosie Napravnik, St. John’s River kept rolling along in deep stretch and caught 8-1 stretch-out sprinter Strike the Moon in the final stride to prevail by a head I the Grade 3, $300,200 stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Lezcano, who picked up the mount when Napravnik sustained a broken wrist in a spill on Wednesday, won the Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial Stakes earlier on the card.

"She's a really good filly. She won it by herself today," Lezcano said of St. John's River. "I gave her so much to do, but she's a very good filly and she did it."

Until inside the sixteenth pole, it looked like even-money favorite St. John’s River would have to settle for her third straight runner-up finish to go along with her near-miss by a neck in the Kentucky Oaks and one-length length defeat in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

This time, however, St. John’s River ($4) got the job done to secure her elusive second career victory in her sixth lifetime start for Louisiana-based trainer Andrew Leggio Jr. A daughter of Include owned by Dede McGehee, St. John’s River completed the distance on a fast track in 1:44.39. She was awarded an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, nine points lower than her previous best in the Kentucky Oaks.

“They were going so slow the first part of it I was worried because I did not think they would back up that much,” Leggio said. “They did not back that much, but she just kept running on them. I thought she was going to win the race, but I was concerned about this short stretch because she does not start getting running until the last eighth of a mile."

Leggio said St. John's River will be heading next to Saratoga, where she will attempt to become the fourth straight Delaware Oaks winner to go on to capture the Grade 1 Alabama at 1 1/4 miles.

Strike the Moon, based in Maryland with trainer Mike Trombetta, was making her first start beyond seven furlongs following a neck loss in the six-furlong Miss Preakness and another second, beaten a length, as the favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong Jostle, a $200,000 stakes at Parx Racing, last time out. Under Julian Pimental, Strike the Moon set comfortable fractions of 48.71 seconds and 1:13.09. She looked like a winner with a 3 1/2-length entering the final eighth of a mile, but was just caught before the wire.

All for Thee, the second choice at 5-2 in a field of seven, was 1 3/4 lengths in back of Strike the Moon in third. The loss ended a three-racing winning streak for All for Thee, a locally based filly trained by Tony Dutrow.