Revved Up wins Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - New York invader Revved Up ($7.30) held off Strut the Stage and favored A Bit O'Gold in the stretch to take the Grade 2, $335,800 at Woodbine Monday.

With Brice Blanc aboard, Revved Up raced well off a sizzling pace in the mile and a half turf event. Provincetown and Burst of Fire dueled through fractions of :22.88, :46.19 and 1:10.42, before they both began to fade on the far turn, where all the protagonists joined the fray.

Strut the Stage and A Bit O'Gold came down the center of the course, but they failed to match the inside bid of Revved Up, who prevailed by a length and three-quarters. Strut the Stage, the winner of the last two runnings of the Niagara, wound up a length and three-quarters clear of A Bit O'Gold, the third-place finisher in the nine-horse field.

"I saved some ground the first part of the race," said Blanc. "He was traveling very comfortably all the way around, and when I found an opening on the far turn, he responded and finished up strong for me."

Revved Up covered the distance in 2:27.13 seconds, and earned $200,520 for Live Oak Plantation and trainer Christophe Clement.

* Bright N Golden ($31.50) rallied from sixth and last on the turn to beat favored Victoria's Boy in Monday's supporting feature, the $106,400 Silver Deputy Stakes for 2-year-olds. Jerry Baird rode Bright N Gold, who ran six and a half furlongs in 1:17.98.