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Le Grand Cru gives Jerkens another upset win Though he doesn't much care for the "Giant Killer" moniker he was given decades ago, Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens has yet to lose the knack for doing what inspired the nickname in the first place. That was never more evident than in Friday's $100,000 Westchester S. (G3), the feature on the opening day card at Belmont Park, where LE GRAND CRU (Dynaformer) relished the return to Big Sandy with a 27-1 upset of the one-mile prep for the May 31 Metropolitan H. (G1). Left in his wake was 4-5 choice Bribon (Fr) (Mark of Esteem [Ire]), the 2009 Westchester and Metropolitan hero who wilted to fifth after a troubled and wide trip. Le Grand Cru, under Cornelio Velasquez, tracked in second down the backside behind Ironman Jon (Mineshaft), who held a one-length advantage through splits of :23 1/5, :46 and 1:09 2/5. Asked to confront the long-time leader in the stretch, Le Grand Cru responded and drew away to win by 2 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:34 4/5. The winner paid $56.50, $18.40 and $10.40. Convocation (Pulpit), the 5-2 second choice, was never more than five lengths off the lead at any call and rallied to edge Ironman Jon for the place by a head. He gave back $4.50 and $3.70 while the 3-1 Ironman Jon was worth $4.20. Honest Man (Unbridled's Song) came late to nab fourth from Bribon, who was followed by Past the Point (Indian Charlie), More Than a Reason (More Than Ready) and Giant Moon (Giant's Causeway). Elusive Warning (Elusive Quality) was scratched. Exotics players were rewarded with payoffs of $204.50 (exacta), $1,040 (trifecta) and $4,915 (7-8-4-5 superfecta). "I didn't think he'd be that big a long shot," Jerkens said. "I don't know why he didn't run so well in Florida, but we have him a rest and he had a couple nice works, just great. We'll enjoy this one and see how he comes out of it. But, of course, we will look at the Met Mile -- do we ever stay home when we should?" This was the sixth victory in the Westchester for Jerkens, who first won it in 1975 with Step Nicely. This was the third win in four Belmont main track outings for the Jordan Streicher-owned Le Grand Cru, who elevated his career mark to 18-5-3-2, $433,578. His last three wins at the track have all been at the one-mile trip. One of those was the off-the-turf Kelso H. (G3) last October, which was followed by a score in the Bold Ruler H. (G3) at Aqueduct. As Jerkens noted, Le Grand Cru struggled in Florida over the winter, going unplaced in the Hal's Hope S. (G3), Canadian Turf S. (G3) and Gulfstream Park H. (G2). He was, however, elevated to third via disqualification in the Gulfstream Park Turf H. (G1). Bred by Earle I. Mack in Kentucky, the dark bay was purchased by his current connections for $230,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. He is out of the El Gran Senor mare Ice the Champagne, making him a half-brother to Argentinean Group 1 winners Ice Point (Roy) and Ice Horse (Roy). His second dam, the winning Jamra (Icecapade), is a full sister to multiple stakes hero and successful sire Clever Trick. This is the family of Queen's Plate and Carter H. (G1) victor Alydeed (Shadeed).
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