Flying P Stable's Lone Rock surged past defending champion Ry's the Guy at the three-sixteenths pole en route to a 3 ¾-length victory in the third running of the $128,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes for 4-year-olds and up Tuesday afternoon at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Robertino Diodoro and ridden by Ramon Vazquez, Lone Rock covered the 1 ½ miles on a fast main track in 2:30.52.
Dack Janiel's set the pace, covering the mile in 1:38.90 and maintained the lead until the far turn when Ry's the Guy moved to the front with Lone Rock right behind him. The top two hit the top of the stretch together with Lone Rock going the better of the two and gradually pulling away.
The victory was worth $78,684 and increased Lone Rock's career bankroll to $528.921 with a record of 32-10-3-2. Lone Rock is a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred gelded son of Majestic Warrior out of the Hard Spun mare Ruby Lips.
Favored in the field of seven, Lone Rock returned $3.80, $2.60 and $2.40. Ry's the Guy, ridden by Chris Landeros, returned $4.20 and $3.40 with Portos finishing third under Tyler Gaffalione and paying $3.20 to show.
You're to Blame finished fourth, followed in order by Plus Que Parfait, Dack Janiel's and Jumper.
RAMON VAZQUEZ (Jockey, Lone Rock, winner) – “I got to know him a little last time and I wanted to stay off the horse on the lead in second but in that situation I had to ease back a little bit. I had some traffic in front of me so I had to ease him back. When I hit the far turn and had a lot of horse I knew we would be tough. To win a stakes here Kentucky Derby Week is incredible. That's why we do this, so I'm just really fortunate. It's an amazing feeling.”
ROBERTINO DIODORO (Trainer, Lone Rock, winner) – “A lot of horses can't go that far but he's a pro. He loves to train. The further he trains, the better he gets. He was so relaxed compared to many of those horses and that's what you need when you're going that distance.”
CHRIS LANDEROS (Jockey, Ry's the Guy, runner-up) – “He gave it a good try but he got real tired on me.”
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