Longshot Tri To Watch Wins Champagne by 7 1/2 Lengths

ELMONT, N.Y. —  Lure was just that to bettors Saturday at Belmont Park.

But while his backers tried to find the 3-2 favorite in the stretch drive, Tri To Watch romped home a 7 1/2-length winner in the $500,000 Champagne Stakes for 2-year-olds.

The 1-2 finish of Tri To Watch and Snappy Landing had longshot bettors bubbling.

Tri to Watch, scoring his first stakes victory and second triumph in six starts, paid $27.40, $12.20 and $7.80. Snappy Landing, a 65-1 shot, returned $43 and $18.40. The exacta paid $1,748.

Tri to Watch broke from the outside post in the 15-horse field under Angel Cordero Jr. and was sixth with a half-mile remaining, but he was beginning to go around horses. He was in the lead at the top of the stretch.

Lure, losing for the second straight time after setting a Belmont track record for five-eighths of a mile in his debut in June, finished sixth.

Pine Bluff finished third in the Champagne, a nose in front of Devil on Ice and paid $6.80.