Sunland Park: Takedown steps up

Takedown, ridden by Glen Murphy, bided his time off the pace, found a seam between horses into the lane, and drove home to win the $100,000 Borderland Derby at Sunland Park by 1 1/4 lengths. This earns him a spot in the $600,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland on March 18. A horse who wins the WinStar Derby, the Santa Anita Derby, and Kentucky Derby wins a bonus of $500,000.

Jacks Hes Tops prompted the pace and stayed on well to be second. Game of Skill moved into a threatening position going down the backside but couldn't improve from there, ending up third. Western Prize, the 2-1 favorite, was last early in the field of nine 3-year-olds and wound up fifth.

Takedown ($13.20), trained by Steve Asmussen, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.64.