Well Positioned gets the nod in three-horse photo

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Well Positioned edged Gone Astray and Chirac in the tight three-way finish of the $70,000 Frisk Me Now Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.

Trained by Rick Dutrow, Well Positioned ($4.20) earned his first stakes win, getting up by a head to improve to 5 for 10. A 4-year-old son of Awesome Again, Well Positioned ran the mile and 70 yards in 1:41.28 as the even-money favorite.

Gone Astray nosed out Chirac for second.

As expected, Chirac took charge early with Well Positioned running comfortably in second.

That alignment changed when At the Disco launched a big middle move down the backstretch. That sudden and unexpected bid forced Paco Lopez to move Well Positioned off the fence sooner than he would have liked.

The race became a three-way battle with Chirac on the rail, Well Positioned in the middle, and At the Disco, the big gray, on the far outside.

The At the Disco challenge was short lived. When he could not gain the lead, At the Disco backed out of the fight. That left Chirac and Well Positioned battling for the lead turning for home. Once again, it turned into a three-way fight as Gone Astray made a strong late run from eighth.

“I tried to keep him relaxed early on and just waited as long as I could,” Lopez said. “I just kept waiting and waiting with him. Gone Astray, the horse that was closing on the outside, is a nice horse and I had to really ask mine for everything. He dug in and didn’t want to let that horse go by us.”