LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At the three-eighths pole, the question was by how many lengths Parchment Party would win the $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon. At the eighth pole, the question was whether he’d win at all. Parchment Party won the Belmont Gold Cup last summer by more than eight lengths, beating a watered-down field in a race scheduled for turf. That was the exception to the rule. “He doesn’t win by much,” said John Velazquez, who was riding Parchment Party for the fourth time Wednesday. “He takes the lead, a length, a length and a half, and when he’s by himself, he starts waiting.” Parchment Party, cruising up three-wide outside pacesetting Johny’s Rendezvous and No Bien Ni Mal going around the last of the Isaac Murphy’s three turns, ran true to form. He made the lead at the quarter pole and put on the brakes. Johny’s Rendezvous battled back at the rail. Stowaway came between horses. Interceptor had run on the far outside. “Honestly, at the eighth pole, I thought I had a chance to go by,” said Flavien Prat, who rode Interceptor. :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Clocker Reports by Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team Thing is, Parchment Party just needs to feel his rivals breathing down his neck. The horse, by Thoroughbred standards, has no stamina limits. And when Velazquez implored Parchment Party to stop messing around, Parchment Party obliged. Drawing way, Parchment Party won the 1 1/2-mile Isaac Murphy by 1 1/4 lengths. Interceptor, trying 1 1/2 miles for the first time, got second, a half-length ahead of Stowaway, who had three lengths on fourth-place No Bien Ni Mal, the well-bet 9-5 second choice behind Parchment Party. Makes Sense was pulled up partway through the race and taken off the track in an equine ambulance. Parchment Party paid $4.52 as the favorite and clocked 2:31.51 over a sloppy, sealed track. Bill Mott trains Parchment Party for Pin Oak Stud, and Parchment Party, a 5-year-old son of Constitution and the Tiznow mare Life Well Lived, has become the leading long-distance dirt horse in North America. Parchment Party revealed his predilection for three-turn, main-track contests in the Belmont Gold Cup. The Gold Cup was a qualifier for the famed two-mile Melbourne Cup in Australia, and Parchment Party made that trip. Alas, his dirt form does not transfer to turf, and Parchment Party finished 20th. Mott said he won’t consider any more turf marathons for Parchment Party, but he will look at every dirt race at 1 1/2 miles and longer that he can find. Parchment Party, Mott said earlier this week, goes even better at 1 3/4 miles than 1 1/2 miles. What he’s not good at is putting horses away. “If you keep him behind horses, you have to start riding him a long way out,” Velazquez said. “I’d rather ride him down the lane than try to ride him to keep up.” Parchment Party might not win by a long way, but he’s so far been unbeatable in long dirt races. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more.