Immersive stays the distance in Fleur de Lis

Stamina proved the decisive factor in a battle between Immersive and Shred the Gnar in the $483,500 Fleur de Lis (G2) at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Although the race lost some luster with the defection of morning line favorite Splendora, presumably due to the sloppy track, Immersive and Shred the Gnar put on a show by dueling through the opening 8 1/2 furlongs of the Fleur de Lis.

Shred the Gnar poked her head in front of Immersive around the far turn and in upper stretch appeared as if she would maintain that narrow advantage to the finish, but the 3-5 favorite eventually gave way as Immersive battled back along the inside.

Immersive proved stoutest over 1 1/8 miles, pulling away late under Irad Ortiz Jr. The winning margin was three parts of a length over Regaled, who rallied for second by 2 1/4 lengths over an obviously tired Shred the Gnar. In Just My Heels trailed throughout.

A homebred racing for Godolphin and trained by Brad Cox, Immersive finished up in 1:50.51 and paid $5.34.

Immersive earned an automatic bid to the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Keeneland in October by winning the Fleur de Lis. At two, the daughter of Nyquist won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar, clinching championship honors following earlier wins in the Spinaway (G1) and Alcibiades (G1).

Immersive had won just once in five starts since that Breeders' Cup tally, in the Seneca Overnight S. last September, but had run second in the other four, including the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), the Distaff (G3) and Shawnee (G2) earlier this term.

Immersive has six wins and four seconds from 10 starts.

The morning line favorite in the $275,000 Bango (G3), the Baffert-trained Cornucopian, also was an early scratch. But he might have had difficulty beating wet-track expert Harrodsburg, who led all the way to win the 6 1/2-furlong dash by a half-length.

A six-year-old son of Constitution who has run some of his fastest races on off tracks at Churchill, Harrodsburg relished the conditions under Luis Saez. Owned by Rod Hatfield and Bud Hatfield, the Mike Tomlinson trainee sped in 1:15.95 and paid $8.90.

Built, the approximate 8-5 favorite, finished second by three lengths over U Devil You. Completing the order of finish were Gold Sweep, Extra Anejo, and Dr. Venkman.