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Vow to Wager gave trainer Dale Romans a second prospect for the Lane's End Stakes when the colt was awarded victory Saturday with the disqualification of Codoy in a highly eventful 28th running of the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. Codoy finished a length ahead of Vow to Wager in the Battaglia, a 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race, but was disqualified for impeding Vow to Wager at two separate junctures in the final quarter-mile. Vow to Wager, ridden by John McKee, returned $48.60 as the longest shot in a field of eight 3-year-olds. Vow to Wager, owned by Donegal Racing, was coming off a Jan. 31 maiden win at Turfway in his fourth career start. A Broken Vow colt, he joins the Romans-trained Quiet All American as a probable starter in the Turfway showcase, the Grade 2, $500,000 Lane's End on March 27. Codoy and Vow to Wager both resisted a contested pace, with Codoy, ridden by Sal Gonzalez Jr., appearing to cut in front of Vow to Wager as both rallied through a huge inside opening turning into the stretch. Near the sixteenth pole, Vow to Wager had to alter course as Codoy appeared to drift inward. "I think if he hadn't gotten bothered he would have had a good chance at beating the other horse," Romans said afterward from Florida. "It's taken this horse a while to figure things out, but we like him." In the Paint finished third, another three-quarters of a length behind Vow to Wager. Kera's Kitten, the 13-10 favorite, faltered badly and finished last after outracing several others in a frantic run through the first turn. A Ken and Sarah Ramsey homebred, Kera's Kitten was coming off a front-running score in the latest Turfway prep, the Jan. 30 WEBN Stakes at a mile. Codoy, based at the Thoroughbred Training Center with trainer Mark Hubley, crossed under the wire in 1:48.94. He was the 7-2 second choice in his first start since finishing 12th in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Quiet All American won the Feb. 15 Ocala Breeders' Sales Championship as a final prep for the 1 1/8-mile Lane's End for West Point Thoroughbreds and Romans.
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