LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Up to the Mark didn’t make his stakes debut until April 14 at Keeneland. He lost, but three weeks later became a Grade 1 winner Looking like one of the best middle-distance grass horses in North America, Up to the Mark romped to victory on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. Blasting home from the five-sixteenths pole with a wide run under Irad Ortiz Jr., Up to the Mark won the nine-furlong Turf Classic by 3 3/4 lengths over Hong Kong Harry, one of the top eight- to nine-furlong horses in Southern California. Spooky Channel, who’d won the $300,000 Muniz Memorial on March 25 at Fair Grounds, finished third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Hong Kong Harry.  Bye Bye Melvin was asked for speed from his outside post and crossed over to lead in the Turf Classsic. Santin broke somewhat slowly but also was tapped for pace, getting into second through fractions of 23.91 and 48.03. :: Get ready to bet the Preakness! Join DRF Bets and score a $250 Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet + Free PPs - Promo code: WINNING The eight-horse field went down the backstretch in four pairs, Up to the Mark on the outside of the third set. Ortiz bided his time behind cover until he’d passed the three-furlong pole midway around the far turn. Coming off his cover at the five-sixteenths and asked for run, Up to the Mark quickened so well that he reached strong contention at the head of the homestretch. He sailed right past Bye Bye Melvin and Santin to lead at the furlong grounds and held firm for a definitive victory. “He was all class today, all class,” said Ortiz, who has ridden Up to the Mark in seven of his eight starts. “He didn’t do anything wrong.” Up to the Mark’s sharp improvement arc was duly noted by bettors, who made him the favorite. He paid $7.26 to win and was timed in 1:47.31 going 1 1/8 miles over a firm course, getting a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. Maybe this race didn’t meet the historical standards of a million-dollar race, but the male turf division lacks stars, and Up to the Mark looks like one. His stakes debut came last month in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland. Chez Pierre won the Maker’s Mark by nearly four lengths, and Up to the Mark finished third, right with runner-up Modern Games, winner of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Mile.  Only Up to the Mark’s last three races before Saturday came on turf. Up to the Mark debuted last July at Saratoga with a sharp maiden sprint win. He ran third going a one-turn dirt winner facing other winners for the first time, then turned in three off-the-board showings before trainer Todd Pletcher decided to try turf. It wasn’t an obvious move. Up to the Mark is by Not This Time, hardly a household name as a grass sire, and out of the unraced mare Belle’s Finale, by Ghostzapper. He hadn’t even breezed on grass before Pletcher made the surface switch.  “We never tried him on turf until the afternoon,” Pletcher said. “I just had a gut feeling he’d handle it,” Pletcher said. The grass debut came in a first-level allowance race Jan. 28 at Gulfstream. Up to the Mark won by four lengths. Rising in class to a second-level allowance, Up to the Mark won again, finishing with a flourish. “He had a pretty rough trip,” said Pletcher. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  Closers dominated the Turf Classic. Hong Kong Harry rallied from seventh, farther behind the leaders than trainer Phil d’Amato expected, and Spooky Channel came from eighth to nab third from Ocean Atlantique. Then came Santin, Wolfie’s Dynaghost, Earl’s Rock, and Bye Bye Melvin. Master Piece and Steady On were scratched. All starters carried 123 pounds. Four-year-old Up to the Mark was bred by Ramspring Farm and purchased at auction for $450,000 by his owner, Mike Repole. He’s Pletcher’s third Turf Classic winner following English Channel and Colonel Liam, who finished in a dead heat two years ago. Colonel Liam regressed in the Manhattan Stakes at Belmont in his first start after the Turf Classic. Up to the Mark will target the Manhattan, Pletcher said. If he keeps heading this direction, toward the very top of the turf division, he can win that, too. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.