Turfway: 'Lord' goes last to first

Ask the Lord continued his dominance of route stakes races at Turfway Park, winning the $50,000 Dust Commander Stakes by three-quarters of a length over Doc D with a last-to-first rally.

The stakes victory was his second this winter at Turfway. In December, he won the Prairie Bayou by a head over Sonic West.

The Dust Commander, like the Prairie Bayou, came down to a close finish. Ask the Lord ($4) was rated in sixth, more than eight lengths behind early leader Wild Lies, who set quick fractions of 45.89 seconds and 1:11.77. As the field hit the far turn, Ask the Lord began to rapidly pick up the front-runners, and through the stretch he outfinished Doc D and third-place finisher Twin Talk.

Ask the Lord, a $62,500 claim by trainer Bernie Flint at Churchill Downs in October, won for the fourth time in his last five starts. He raced a mile under Rafael Bejarano in 1:37.38.

* A race later, Slewpy's Storm ($9.60) picked up her first stakes victory with an 8 1/2-length romp in the Valdale Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Against a field of untested routers, the superior stamina of Slewpy's Storm was evident in the one-mile race. She easily pulled away from her opponents in the final quarter-mile, after stalking the pace in third during the early stages.

Plumlake Lady, who spotted the field a couple lengths with a slow start, rallied belatedly for second, a length in front of favored Tarrah Trick.

Slewpy's Storm, trained by Ed Frederick and ridden by Tony D'Amico, raced a mile in 1:37.87.