Virginia Kraft Payson’s SCIPION (A.P. Indy) trailed the entire field down the
backstretch and had plenty of work to do leaving the far turn, but the
three-year-old closed like a freight train on the far outside through the
stretch to win Saturday’s $150,000
Risen Star S. (G3) going away by 1 1/4
lengths. Ridden by Gary Stevens for trainer Patrick Biancone, the sophomore colt
earned his first stakes victory in the 1 1/16-mile test for Kentucky Derby (G1)
hopefuls.
Electric Light (Silver Ghost) led the way early through fast fractions of :23
2/5 and :46 3/5 before giving way to Silent Bid (Grand Slam), who got the
six-furlong split in 1:11 3/5 and turned for home with a wall of challengers
close behind him. Storm Surge (Storm Cat) grabbed the lead in midstretch, but
Scipion, who had only two horses beat leaving the far turn, was closing fast on
the far outside and Real Dandy (Yankee Victor) was advancing quickly up the
rail. Scipion had the better run of the two and reached the front right before
the wire. He stopped the teletimer over the fast track in 1:44 2/5.
Dispatched at 10-1 off a third-place allowance finish at Santa Anita in
mid-January, the dark bay paid $22.20, $11.20 and $7.40. Real Dandy got up for
the place, a neck better than Storm Surge at 44-1, and returned $34.40 and
$15.20. Storm Surge, the 6-1 third choice in the 11-horse field, held third and
gave back $5.40. The healthy exotics totaled $725.20 for the exacta, $7,923.60
for the trifecta and $56,239.40 for the 8-9-3-2 superfecta that included
Electric Light in the fourth spot.
The top six finishers were separated by only three lengths at the wire. Iced
Out (Comic Strip) took fifth and was followed by Harlington (Unbridled), who was
favored at 6-5 off two wins over sloppy tracks, Silent Bid, Rush Bay (Cozzene),
Smooth Bid (Rubiano), Buzzards Bay (Marco Bay) and Bold Lion (Lion Cavern).
Bred in Kentucky by Payson Stud, Scipion was purchased for $1.9 million at
the 2003 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale and now owns a 5-2-0-2 mark with
$143,240 in earnings. He captured his career bow last August, finished third in
the Cradle S. (G3) and ended his juvenile season with an unplaced showing in
the Breeders’ Futurity (G1). Out of Grade 3 winner Strawberry Reason (Strawberry
Road [Aus]), Scipion is a half-brother to undefeated two-year-old champion
Vindication. He has a juvenile half-brother named Foreign Minister (Saint
Ballado) and an unnamed yearling half-sister by Storm Cat.