In the first graded stakes of the card, War Story made the last move the winning one as he came from off the pace late to score in the $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational Stakes.
In the first graded stakes of the card, War Story made the last move the winning one as he came from off the pace late to score in the $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational Stakes.
Odds-on favorite Tu Brutus, an 11-length winner of the Flat Out Stakes May 7 at Belmont, set out for the lead immediately, opened up by four lengths going into the first turn and maintained a good lead up the backstretch. After six furlongs in 1:15.85, Tu Brutus saw his lead cut to a length, and Sunny Ridge and then War Story passed the favorite as the field turned for home.
Out wider on the course, jockey Javier Castellano guided 4-1 shot War Story to the outside of Sunny Ridge and the Northern Afleet gelding kicked clear to score by 2 ½ lengths, covering 1 ½ miles in 2:31.02. Sunny Ridge held second with Tu Brutus checking in third.
War Story, who entered off of a third-place finish in the Charles Town Classic and last won in the Queens County Stakes in December, won for the fifth time in 21 starts. The Brooklyn victory pushed him over the $1 million mark in career purse earnings. –Lenny Shulman