KRYSTAL KING Stakes

Betting favorite SPANISH HARLAN easily won today’s $60,000 KRYSTAL KING Stakes in Vermont, paying $8.30, $4.10 and $2.70 for those bettors who followed this writer’s prediction.  Rider S Gravina was the feature winner for the second consecutive week at this track.

The race played out as expected as MELODRAMA took the early lead from the start, followed closely by SHIMISHIMISHAKE, with SPANISH HARLAN settling nicely in fourth. They stayed this way around the first turn and down the backstretch, until SPANISH HARLAN began to make his move in the far turn.  His charge caught the early leaders at the top of the stretch and he easily moved out to win by 3 ¼ lengths.  SHIMISHIMISHAKE was able to get up to second in the stretch (his second consecutive stakes runner up finish), with MELODRAMA holding on gamely for third in his first stakes outing.  BRISKEN ran evenly, finishing fourth.  THEOLOGICAL sat nicely in third for the first half of the race, but never fired and faded to a distant fifth.  ARRESTED THIEF and EIGHT NINE trailed the field throughout, finishing more than 10 lengths back.

SPANISH HARLAN’s winning time of 1:56 2/5 earned him a SP of 94.  The 3-year-old Kentucky bred colt sired by SAHM earned his second lifetime stakes win for owner fleet1 and pushed his lifetime earnings to over $135,000.

Next week’s feature at Vermont will showcase the older females going 9.5 furlongs on turf in the $65,000 PRINCESS QUEST Challenge.