Timeline passes test in G3 Peter Pan

by Najja Thompson

Making his first graded stakes start and only the third in his career, Timeline kept his unbeaten record intact as the 2-5 favorite winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes on a rainy Saturday at Belmont Park.

Breaking a step slow from post 2 with Javier Castellano aboard, Timeline moved into, second position as 6-1 third-choice Meantime went to the front of the field of six, setting fractions of 24.07 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and a half 47.68 for the half. At the quarter-pole, Timeline was set down in a full drive engaging the leader. Surpassing Meantime at the top of the stretch, Timeline was ridden out to the wire to win by 3 ½ lengths. 

He completed the 1 1/8-mile victory in 1:51.62 over a sloppy main track. 

"He's a really nice horse and the way he did it today was amazing," said Castellano. "This kind of horse is very straight forwarded. All you have to do is push a button and he goes forward. The track was a good condition for him. He was really professional. I think he can improve a lot, too."

The son of Hard Spun returned $2.90 for a $2 win wager, increased his career earnings to $183,000 for winning owners Woodford Racing.

"The horse ran great," said winning trainer Chad Brown. "There was a little anxious moment on the turn there. I couldn't really see if he lost the bridle a little bit or what. Javier said he kind of ran in spots a little bit at the end of the race. He kind of had to use him a little bit out of the gate to get his footing and then felt good. Then at one point in the race, again, he felt like he maybe he should've went with the going just a touch. Then he cut the corner and got on better footing and the horse gave him another good kick."

Traditionally the local prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Stakes on June 10, Brown would not confirm if the winning colt would be pointed to the race, but is keeping all options on the table. 

"I'll speak to Bill Farish, who manages this horse, and we'll go from there," added Brown. "We had spoken earlier in the day that if we had some success here, the Haskell is a race that we have a lot of interest in, with maybe one race between now and then. He doesn't strike me as a mile-and-a-half horse, but I'm not going to declare him out of the race. I'll discuss that with Mr. Farish, but that wasn't really my plan going in here. We're still in the developmental stage with this horse."

Following Meantime in second was Impressive Edge, Take Your Guns, Master Plan and Lookin At Blessing.