by Jeff Apel

Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) runner-up Hard Spun gamely regained command after dropping a head behind First Defence in early stretch and earned a 1 1/2-length win in the $250,000 King’s Bishop Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

Making his second career start over seven furlongs, Hard Spun overtook Spin Master and opened a half-length lead through four furlongs in :44.20. Dropping back to second on the turn, Hard Spun gamely fought back and edged clear under brisk handling from jockey Mario Pino to earn his first career Grade 1 win.

“He hadn’t won a Grade 1 yet, so this is very good,” said winning trainer Larry Jones. “It’s very important for his stallion career to have the Grade 1 under him. This is a very important race for making stallions, and that was one reason we looked at it.”

Pino positioned Hard Spun on the outside of First Defence, who opened a half-length lead through a quarter-mile in :21.94. After being bumped at the start, Hard Spun moved up quickly on the backstretch, dug in when challenged by First Defence leaving the turn, and won in 1:22.34 on a fast track.

“He got to loafing when he made the lead, and I started to worry,” Pino said. “As soon as he felt First Defence next to him, he switched leads and his class came out.”

Grade 3 winner E Z Warrior finished third, 4 1/4 lengths behind stakes winner First Defence.

Jones hopes to use the King’s Bishop as a prep for the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1), a 1 1/4-mile race on October 27 at Monmouth. Hard Spun made his seven previous starts in races one mile or longer, and entered off a runner-up finish in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) on August 5 at Monmouth.

Hard Spun closed out his juvenile campaign with a win in the seven-furlong Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes on December 18 at Philadelphia Park. The Danzig colt finished second, 2 1/4 lengths behind Street Sense, in the Kentucky Derby on May 5 at Churchill Downs and was third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 19 at Pimlico Race Course.

Owned by Richard Porter’s Fox Hills Farms, Hard Spun earned his sixth win in 11 starts over two seasons and increased his earnings to $1,393,470. Bred in Pennsylvania, Hard Spun is out of Turkish Tryst, by Turkoman.

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor