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More than that Stephen Got Even wins Gallery Furniture.com Stakes
Posted: Saturday March 27, 1999 08:46 PM
FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) -- Nick Zito found out Saturday he has another Triple Crown candidate. Bob Baffert spent all day on airplanes to learn that he does not. Stephen Got Even, trained by Zito, circled the field on the far turn and pulled away in the stretch to win the $750,000 Gallery Furniture.com Stakes at Turfway Park. Straight Man, trained by Baffert, went off the 2-1 favorite but faded and finished a disappointing fourth. "On the backside, I thought he looked perfect," Baffert said. "He was laying in good position. Then he got tired. "On the backstretch, I was getting my winner's speech ready." Straight Man's performance left Baffert with two possible Triple Crown colts -- Prime Timber and General Challenge -- and the fillies Silverbulletday and Excellent Meeting. Zito already had a probable for the Kentucky Derby -- Wondertross, who finished second to Vicar in the Florida Derby. Wondertross is co-owned by New York Yankees boss George Steinbrenner and William Condren. The Groom Is Red, a Zito horse owned by Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino, finished sixth Saturday. He is winless in four races since the Champagne Stakes in October. Straight Man took the lead out of the gate and set a slow pace that held up until the far turn. Then Stephen Got Even, who had been forced to run wide most of the way, made a big outside move under jockey Shane Sellers. "The pace was great," Sellers said. "It was a little slow [24 1/5 seconds for the quarter, 49 for the half mile], but there was nobody stealing the race, which was good for me. I was just sitting in the right spot on the right horse." Sellers and Stephen Got Even swept past Straight Man and K One King at the top of the lane and continued to pull away through the stretch. "There's no question this is a top colt," Zito said. "This was only his fourth start, and it was impressive." The winning time for the 1 1/8-mile race was 1:49 on a fast track -- well off Hansel's track record of 1:46 3-5 in this race when it was called the Jim Beam Stakes. Stephen Got Even finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of K One King. It was another five lengths to Epic Honor. "He never ceases to amaze me, this horse, because we go from a maiden race to an allowance race, to another allowance race, now this Grade II race, which obviously has some history to it," Zito said. "I can't tell you enough good things about this horse." Stephen Got Even paid $16, $7 and $5.20. K One King returned $4.60 and $3.80. Epic Honor was $5 to show. Baffert spent most of the day in airplanes to see Straight Man's Triple Crown potential in person. From Dubai, where Silver Charm is running in the $5 million Dubai World Cup Sunday, Baffert flew to London, caught the Concorde to New York, then took a private jet to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which is nearly adjacent to Turfway Park. He arrived on the grounds about 45 minutes before post time.
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