Unlikely favorite Lightening Larry proves bettors right

Lightening Larry turned in his best performance since winning the Chick Lang Stakes about a year ago romping to a 4 1/2-length victory, eased down late, in the $102,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes on Monday at Monmouth Park.

The easy score came as no surprise to a wide swath of the betting public. Lightening Larry held no on-paper edge over other plausible contenders but went off at odds of 4-5 under Paco Lopez and made that price look fair. Lightening Larry’s victory capped a three-for-three Monmouth afternoon for Jorge Delgado, who trains Lightening Larry for Lea Farms.

Lightening Larry and Lopez sat a sweet trip perched in third as Feast and Hollywood Jet tore through an opening quarter mile in 21.38 and the half in 44.18. At the head of Monmouth’s short homestretch, the outcome appeared already to be decided as Lightening Larry swooped past the pacesetters without being asked. No one came close to mounting a challenge from behind and Lopez geared his mount down in the final half-furlong, stopping the timer in 1:09.28 for six furlongs over a fast track.

Hollywood Jet held second by a nose over 9-year-old Drafted, who won this race a year ago but mounted his standard late rally much too late to have any chance at the winner.

Lightening Larry ($3.80) is a 4-year-old by Uncaptured out of Moon and Sun, by Malibu Moon. His record now stands at 16-6-5-1 following Monday’s peak performance.

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