Horse Racing Roundup : Digress Wins Tropical Derby With Fast Finish

Digress, the 2-1 favorite trained by Woody Stephens, broke into the lead around the second turn Saturday and won the $294,100 Tropical Park Derby for 3-year-olds at Calder Race Course in Miami.

The brown Topsider colt finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of 55-1 shot Intensive Command and covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:54 3/5 on a fast track. Digress earned $176,460 for his third win in seven starts, paying $6.80, $4.60, and $4.

“He seems to take good to the track,” said Sandy Bruno, an assistant of Stephens, who was in Kentucky for the Jim Beam Stakes. “He’s going to Kentucky shortly and I’m not sure exactly where Woody will run him next.”

Intensive Command, trained by Johnny Campo, returned $37.20 and $19.40 and finished three lengths ahead of Granacus, who paid $5.80.

Digress was eighth after a quarter-mile and seventh after a half-mile as Havanaffair set the early pace. He took the lead entering the stretch.

Longshot Sea Trek hugged the rail until deep in the stretch and caught front-running Din’s Dancer to win the $122,500 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

The victory for the son of Roberto was the first in a stakes race and thrust the colt into the 3-year-old picture.

Sea Trek returned $73.40, $29 and $6.60. Din’s Dancer paid $15.80 and $6.80. Notebook, who faced many of the top 3-year-olds in Florida, was third as the 4-5 favorite and returned $2.60.

The $2 exacta was worth $1,133.40.

Sea Trek, ridden by Patrick Johnson, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 3/5 and earned $73,500, almost twice what he earned in the first six starts of his career.

Tsarbaby led wire to wire to win the $100,000 Cherry Hill Mile in a field of 11 3-year-olds at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Ridden by Herbert McCauley, Tsarbaby took a 6 1/2-length victory over King’s Nest, a 5-1 choice ridden by Frank Lovato, to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the Swift Stakes on March 12 at Aqueduct.

The favorite, Sorry About That, 9-5 in the odds and ridden by Jean Cruguet, finished third after leaving the starting gate last and trailing by 11 lengths.

Tsarbaby, trained by Wayne Lukas and coupled with stablemate Cougarized, was timed in 1:37 1/5 and earned $60,000 for owner Peter M. Brant.

Tsarbaby returned $6.80, $3.40 and $2.20, and with King’s Nest returned an exacta of $42.80. King’s Nest returned $5.80 and $2.60 and Sorry About That returned $2.20.

Faster Than Sound went wire to wire to win the $180,000 Westchester Handicap at Aqueduct Park in New York over previously unbeaten Mocito Fogoso and King’s Swan, who spotted each of his rivals from 20 to 25 pounds.

Ridden by Julie Krone, he carried 113 pounds, 20 less than King’s Swan, who earned his 133-pound impost with four straight stakes wins at Aqueduct. The time for the mile was 1:34 2/5. Ron Stevens, who carried 109 pounds with jockey E.T. Baird aboard, finished second, a nose in front of King’s Swan. Mocito Fogoso, 112, with Angel Cordero up, was another nose back.

Mocito Fogoso, who won his four straight starts in Chile and an allowance race at Gulfstream on March 4, was the 6-5 favorite.

The victory was worth $108,000 for Faster Than Sound. He went off as the fifth choice in the field of nine and paid $22.80, $11.20 and $4.

Ron Stevens paid $30.40 and $8.40 and King’s Swan paid $2.60.