Finger Lakes: Saint Arthur wires Ontario County for first stakes win

Saint Arthur went right to the front and never looked back in Saturday’s $50,000 Ontario County Stakes at Finger Lakes, wiring the six-furlong sprint for New York-bred 3-year-olds by two lengths.

Saint Arthur ($4.10), the favorite in the field of six, built a 3 1/2-length lead under jockey Jamie Rodriquez after a quarter-mile in 22.20 seconds and a half-mile in 46.31. He increased his lead to five lengths at the top of the stretch and had more than enough left to hold off second choice Tequila Hero, who rallied from fifth place under Jeremias Flores to be the runner-up.

It was two lengths farther back to Cajun Best in third. Always for You, Our Pedroia, and Rambling completed the order of finish. Saint Arthur was timed in 1:12.28 on a sloppy, sealed track.

Saint Arthur, an Invasor ridgling trained by Carlos Martin for the Crown Stable, has faced statebred company throughout his seven-race career, with two victories and $129,840 in earnings. He scored a front-running head win in a $52,000 maiden special weight race going 6 1/2 furlongs at Aqueduct in November to conclude his juvenile season. In his 3-year-old debut last month at Belmont Park, he was a tired seventh of 11 in an optional claimer on a muddy track.

Last year, Saint Arthur finished second in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes at Belmont after a pair of third-place finishes in stakes at Finger Lakes. In defeating Tequila Hero on Saturday, Saint Arthur avenged a loss to that rival in the Aspirant Stakes at Finger Lakes last September.