Mr Speaker scores as favorite in Lexington Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Professional discretion paid off Saturday for Shug McGaughey when the Hall of Fame trainer sent out Mr Speaker to win the 33rd running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

McGaughey had the Blue Grass Stakes last weekend in mind for Mr Speaker but ultimately took a pass when the race came up with a full field and tougher company. By waiting a week, Mr Speaker wound up the 2-1 favorite when well-drawn in post 1 for the Lexington, a 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race, and the Phipps Stable homebred used a perfect stalking trip under Jose Lezcano in notching the second stakes victory of his career.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

“I thought Jose rode a great race on him,” said McGaughey. “This horse, we’ve been high on him.”

Mr Speaker, by Pulpit, returned $6.20 as favorite in a field of eight after finishing in 1:44.18. Divine Oath was second, four lengths behind the winner and a head before his Todd Pletcher stablemate, Supermonic, who had three-quarters of a length on Ami’s Holiday in fourth.

Attendance on a perfect spring afternoon was 34,933, fourth-highest in track history and the most for a Lexington Day, surpassing the 33,821 here in 2007.

The Lexington is a points-eligibility race toward the May 3 Kentucky Derby, but none of the eight 3-year-olds are headed that way. Mr Speaker got 10 points but they will go unused, considering the threshold to make the 20-horse cutoff for the May 3 race appears to be about 20 points.

Mr Speaker now has won 3 of 7 starts overall, with the Grade 3 Dania Beach on the Gulfstream Park turf in December being his most notable prior effort. He was coming off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Palm Beach, also on the Gulfstream turf after finishing seventh in his only dirt try, the Holy Bull in January.

McGaughey, who won the Kentucky Derby last year with Orb, said he believes the colt will get a chance to race on dirt “one of these days,” but he harbors no illusions about Mr Speaker somehow sneaking into this Derby with just 10 points.

“It ain’t going to be in two weeks,” he said to laughs.

After the top four, the order was Solitary Ranger, Poker Player, Z Lucky, and Ride Away. Dynamic Impact, Morning Calm, and Global Strike were early scratches.

The $2 exacta (1-6) paid $19.80, the $1 trifecta (1-6-10) returned $38.90, and the 10-cent superfecta (1-6-10-7) was worth $16.50.

* Fans are reminded there is no racing here Sunday because of the Easter holiday. The final three-day stretch of the spring meet resumes Wednesday, with live action on the circuit moving to Churchill Downs the evening of April 26.