Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park : Alysheba Runs Down Bet Twice for Victory

Alysheba and Bet Twice met for the eighth time Saturday, and Alysheba used a late charge to post a three-quarter-length victory in the $500,000 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park.

The win was the first for Alysheba over Bet Twice since last year’s Preakness and evened their rivalry at four apiece. However, Bet Twice’s victory in the Belmont denied Alysheba the Triple Crown.

Alysheba won the first three meetings between the two horses, then Bet Twice came out ahead in the next four, winning the Belmont Stakes, Haskell Handicap and Pimlico Special and finishing ahead of Alysheba in the Travers.

In winning the Iselin and its $300,000 top prize, Alysheba moved past Spend a Buck into second place in career earnings for thoroughbreds with $4,470,642. John Henry is the all-time leader with $6.5 million.

This was a typical race between Bet Twice, ridden by Craig Perret, and Alysheba, with Chris McCarron up. Bet Twice ran close to the lead, and Alysheba made one big run. It was enough.

Slew City Slew took the lead shortly after the start, with Gulch and Bet Twice close to the lead and Alysheba running in fifth place, about eight lengths off the pace.

Bet Twice moved into second running down the backstretch and grabbed the lead from Slew City Slew as the top three headed into the final turn. By that time, McCarron also had Alysheba in gear and closing.

Bet Twice had a 2 1/2-length lead over Slew City Slew and Gulch coming down the stretch, and the only question was whether Alysheba could catch him.

Not only did Alysheba catch Bet Twice, the son of Alydar had little trouble in going by his rival and winning for the fourth time in six starts this year.

Alysheba, who carried high weight of 124 pounds, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 4/5, a second off the stakes record set by Spend a Buck. The colt paid $4, $3 and $2.40. Bet Twice, 123, returned $3 and $2.80.

Gulch, with Angel Cordero in the saddle, was another four lengths back and paid $2.60.

Slew City Slew finished fourth and was followed by Back Bay Banquet and Bolshoi Boy.