Gear Jockey may have lost the Troy Stakes last month at Saratoga because of a poor start, but a sharp beginning Saturday at Kentucky Downs helped land his connections a far richer prize. Outbreaking everyone but pacesetting Bombard, Gear Jockey and jockey Jose Lezcano pressed the front-runner while sitting second, took the lead in the final quarter-mile, and went on to an impressive 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3, $1 million Turf Sprint. Diamond Oops came out on top of a tight multi-horse photo for place as Bombard held third and Fast Boat was fourth. Favored Got Stormy, winner of the Grade 1 Fourstardave last month at Saratoga, finished evenly for sixth, while second-choice Casa Creed rallied late to nab fifth. Fast Boat had beaten Gear Jockey in the Troy Stakes in part because Gear Jockey broke poorly, leaving him too much late work to do, though the 4-year-old colt closed well for third. That showing followed a Saratoga allowance-race win, the first time Rusty Arnold, who trains Gear Jockey for breeder Calumet Farm, had cut the colt back from routes to a turf sprint. Third in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Gear Jockey’s development in route racing appeared to have stalled earlier this year. He got a late-spring and early-summer freshening and clearly seems to have found his niche in one-turn turf races. :: Get DRF's free 2021 Kentucky Downs Player's Guide The two at Saratoga, contested over 5 1/2 furlongs, probably were shorter than ideal for Gear Jockey, and Arnold, who won this race in 2019 with Totally Boss, picked a great spot in Saturday’s race. Officially run over six furlongs, but because of a long run-up between the gate and the spot where timing begins and a testing uphill finish, the Turf Sprint plays longer than the published distance, and it ideally suited Gear Jockey. Racing comfortably just off Bombard’s pace of 22.38 and 45.14, Gear Jockey turned into the long Kentucky Downs homestretch full of run. Lezcano waited patiently even as Gear Jockey opened a lead, finally asking for Gear Jockey’s best as he guided his mount down to the inner rail through the final furlong. Gear Jockey ($13.40), who was timed in 1:07.90 over a firm course, won for the fourth time in 15 starts and, through the Breeders’ Cup Challenger Series program, earned automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Turf Sprint. Gear Jockey is by Twirling Candy out of Switching Gears, by Tapit.