Horse Racing Roundup : Awe Inspiring Wins Jersey Derby, Earns a Shot at Sunday Silence

Awe Inspiring earned a start in the Belmont Stakes and another shot at Sunday Silence by winning the $500,000 Jersey Derby by 3 1/4 lengths Monday.

“We’ll certainly be there if he is right for it, and I hope he will be,” owner Ogden Mills Phipps said after Awe Inspiring covered the 1 1/4 miles at Garden State in 2 minutes 3 seconds.

Phipps said he would discuss Awe Inspiring’s status with trainer Shug McGaughey today.

Awe Inspiring finished third in the Kentucky Derby, a little more than 2 1/2 lengths behind winner Sunday Silence and only a head behind stablemate Easy Goer.

Awe Inspiring ran fourth as Halo Hansom and A.M. Swinger took the field through the opening six furlongs in 1:11 1/5. Craig Perret started moving Awe Inspiring on the backstretch, drawing even with leaders Faultless Ensign and Halo Hansom with a four-wide move on the stretch turn and then drew away at the eighth pole.

The victory was the fifth in seven starts this year for Awe Inspiring and earned $300,000 for Phipps. The colt paid $2.60, $2.40 and $2.10. Halo Hansom paid $12.20 and $2.10 and Faultless Ensign returned $2.10.

Proper Reality, staying on the rail through the stretch, won the $589,000 Metropolitan Mile in a three-horse photo finish at Belmont Park.

Proper Reality held off the favored entry of Seeking the Gold and Dancing Spree to win $353,400. Seeking the Gold finished a nose behind Proper Reality and a nose ahead of Dancing Spree.

Proper Reality covered the mile on the fast track in 1:34 and returned $10.80, $3.80 and $3.40. Seeking the Gold, owned by Phipps, paid $2.40 and $2.10.

“He’s a nice horse, a good sprinter,” said Robert Holthus, trainer of Proper Reality. “He ran into a little traffic at the head of the stretch, but when he finally did get through, he just came right on.”

Holthus said Proper Reality, who finished second in his last start at the Pimlico Special, will leave Tuesday to run in the Hawthorne Gold Cup.