Soldat marches to victory in With Anticipation

"He really took to the grass -- very impressive," Garcia enthused. "I had a

great trip today. When I asked him at the quarter-pole, whoosh! He really took

off."

"It was very exciting," McLaughlin said. "He's run two excellent seconds on

the dirt and we thought if he liked the turf, he'd be able to win a race like

this. That's why we entered a maiden in here. There's only a couple of graded

stakes for two-year-olds to go to the Breeders' Cup (Juvenile Turf [G2] on

November 6 at Churchill Downs), so now he's probably in the Breeders' Cup. We

thought (if he didn't win today) that we could always go back to win a maiden

race.

"I'm happy that it's a War Front, too, and for Harvey Clarke and Craig

Robertson. It's a great connection and War Front is a very nice freshman sire

that I trained for a while (early in his racing career), so I'm happy that he

has his first graded stakes winner.

"War Front was by Danzig, so there's a lot of turf there and (Soldat) worked

well on it," McLaughlin added. "We've always liked him. This was a great result

today; we're happy."

Powhatan County (Fusaichi Pegasus), the 2-1 favorite who was the first to get

bumped by Typhoon Slew coming out of the gate, recovered to race in third for

most of the way. Rallying past Typhoon Slew in deep stretch, Powhatan County

finished a clear second by 3 1/4 lengths, returning $3.60 and $3.20. Typhoon

Slew held third, and show was good for $6.30 at 7-1. The exotics totaled $71

(exacta), $383 (trifecta) and $2,938 (9-2-1-4 superfecta) with the 12-1 Air

Support (Smart Strike) checking in another three-quarters of a length back in

fourth.

Silver Medallion (Badge of Silver), Kid Curry (Posse), Grigio (Stormy

Atlantic), Manchurian High (The Daddy), Sensational Slam (Grand Slam) and Lou

Brissie (Limehouse) completed the order under the wire, while main-track-only

hopefuls Madman Diaries (Bring the Heat) and Running Tap (Tapit) stayed in the

barn.

Soldat's high-profile maiden win boosted his earnings to $80,000 from his

3-1-2-0 line. He made his debut at Belmont on June 10, in a five-furlong dash in

the mud, and ultimately lost his duel with Bail Out the Cat (Tale of the Cat) by

2 1/4 lengths. Soldat was 10 1/2 lengths clear of next-out winner Pluck (More

Than Ready). Bail Out the Cat has gone on to endorse the form, most recently

finishing a distant second to Kantharos in the Saratoga Special S. (G2). In his

second try, Soldat was no match for the highly-regarded Wine Police in a 5

1/2-furlong maiden at the Spa on July 24, but was again 5 3/4 lengths clear of

third.

Bred by Brookfield Stud in Kentucky, Soldat brought $180,000 as a Keeneland

September yearling. He is the first registered foal from the unraced Le Relais

(Coronado's Quest), who has since produced an unnamed yearling filly by Badge of

Silver and a 2010 colt by Tiz Wonderful. Le Relais is herself a half-sister to

Canadian Grade 3 winner Mulrainy (Star de Naskra), and she hails from the family

of Grade 2 victor Pine Dance (Pine Bluff) and seven-time stakes queen and Grade

2-placed The Happy Hopper (El Prado [Ire]).

The October 3 Pilgrim S. (G3) at Belmont is "probably the right spot (for

Soldat's next start), if we have enough time," McLaughlin said.