Prince Valiant grabs early lead, keeps it all the way in Times Square

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Prince Valiant took control soon after the start and galloped to a front-running, 3 1/2-length victory in Sunday’s $194,000 Times Square division of the New York Stallion Series for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

The win was the third straight for Prince Valiant, a son of King for a Day owned by Red Oak Stable and trained by Todd Pletcher. The stallion King for a Day is also the sire of Times Square runner-up Soontobeking. King for a Day stands at Irish Hill and Dutchess Views in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Dylan Davis hustled Prince Valiant to the lead out of the gate and was up a length over Soontobeking through a quarter in 22.67 seconds and a half-mile in 46.28. Though Soontobeking and National Identity tried to make a race out of it, Prince Valiant had plenty left and ran away from those two in the stretch to secure the victory. Soontobeking finished second by 5 1/2 lengths over National Identity, the 6-5 favorite. Huggy and In the Chase completed the order of finish.

Prince Valiant covered the 6 1/2 furlongs over a sealed muddy surface in 1:16.73 and returned $4.90 as the second choice.

“I saw us as main speed, just didn’t know about the break, but he broke well with me, I was able to get to the lead comfortably, he was doing it well,” Davis said. “He was drifting out a little down the backside, but I was able to straighten him up into the turn, then he started picking up the bridle at the [five-sixteenths] and I just allowed him to go ahead and do his thing.”

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