Mr. Nightlinger was quickest out of the gate and went to the lead immediately, setting a quick pace of 21.90 and 45.57 over the good turf while as many as 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Midwatch who stalked him in second. Entering the stretch, Mr. Nightlinger continued to lead, with favorite Smart Enough, who ran into traffic trouble, finally making headway. However, Mr. Nightlinger found another gear and drew away late to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:03.84. It was a long 2 1/4 lengths back to Fort Prado third.
Winning jockey Jamie Theriot said of the 22-1 longshot, "He’s an up-close pace kind of horse. That was our strategy to let him run to the front. The fractions were kind of quick, but that was okay. When (Midwatch) came up on him on the outside, he was determined not to let him get by."
Results chart
