After Market is undefeated in three starts on the year  (Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com)

Given a rail-hugging trip by Cornelio Velasquez, the dark bay sophomore colt raced virtually in tandem with pacesetter Jade's Revenge (Quiet American) through splits of :24 3/5 and :49 1/5. After Market then took over at the six-furlong mark in 1:13 and surged to a clear advantage in the stretch, finishing the 1 1/8-mile affair in 1:48 2/5 over the firm inner turf.

"There was no speed in there," Velasquez said, "and he did it easy, so I took the lead. They were crawling, so I wasn't going to hold him back. He was going so easy, he will have no problem stretching out. He went about his business much better today, much more professional. He's learning every start."

"It's an honor to be here with some of these guys from the Hall of Fame," trainer Bill Mott, himself a Hall of Famer, said. "We would have preferred it if someone else went out on the lead and he would have had a target to run at. As it turned out, it worked out fine."

Sent off as the 6-5 favorite, the winner returned $4.50, $3.10 and $2.40 for his efforts. It was a blanket finish for the minor awards. Spider Power (Ire) (Royal Applause [GB]), who rated in fourth or fifth place for much of the race, managed to get up in the closing strides to take second by a nose, giving back $5.60 and $3.80 at 8-1, just defeating Green Lemon (Lemon Drop Kid). The show paid $3.20 at 5-1. Exotics totaled $28.20 (exacta) and $98.50 (2-3-1 trifecta). Manchu Prince (Gone West), Brilliant (War Chant), Galantas (Tale of the Cat), Sir Classic Chris (Catienus) and Jade's Revenge completed the order under the wire. Cotton King (Awesome Again) was listed as a main track only entrant and was scratched from the field.