Joking’s fantastic stretch run in the $250,000 True North S. (G2) Friday at Belmont Park gave perennial top sire Distorted Humor his 55th lifetime graded stakes winner.
Joking’s victory looked somewhat improbable with a furlong to run in the six furlong contest. Dads Caps was strong on the lead, with a two-length lead in mid-stretch, but Joking was full of run on the outside, and came from last of five to first in the final sixteenth to win by a neck in a very rapid 1:08.04, less than a half-second off the track record.
“I’m very impressed,” an elated owner/trainer Charlton Baker said. “He’s doing great, but today was (a) step up. I didn’t know how he’d handle it. I know he’s doing super and then again the track was fast all day. It seemed like speed was dominating.
“I was hoping he’d get there. He gives you that kick. He’s got that killer instinct now that he wants to get there.”
Joking, a 7-year-old veteran, has a consistent 9-8-8 mark in 38 lifetime starts, including a win in the Diablo S. while earning $636,138.
The winner was bred in Kentucky by Darley out of the black type winner Spun Silk, who is a half-sister to three-time Grade 2 winner and WinStar stallion Fed Biz.
