Contested dominant once again in Grade 1 Acorn

Contested cruises in the G1 Acorn at Belmont Park

Contested rolled to her fourth straight win with a five length victory $300,000 Acorn S. (G1) on the Memorial Day card at Belmont Park. The 3-year-old filly, owned by Bob Baffert’s wife Jill, was coming off a 4 3/4-length score in the Grade 3 Eight Belles S. May 4 at Churchill Downs, her first start in stakes company.

Contested’s named belied how dominant she was in the Acorn. She was up three lengths after a quarter mile with no urging from Javier Castellano, who was aboard for the first time. After a half-mile in :45.19, the margin was four lengths. Zo Impressive made a brief run near the head of the lane, but Contested pulled away again, stopping the timer in 1:34.61 for the mile

“That’s just what we wanted to see,” said assistant trainer Jim Barnes. “You’ve got to play the break, it all depends on how you break. She basically caught a flyer, and they stayed off of her. She went :22 and :45, so they didn’t just give it to her. She was rolling right along.”

“She is really an amazing filly,” added Castellano. “I hadn’t ridden her before, only watched the replays a couple of times. What she does, she does so easily. I just wanted to sit still and not move until it was the right time, and the right place. She enjoyed the trip and just galloped.”

It was the second Acorn win for Baffert, who took the 2009 running with Gabby’s Golden Gal.

Contested, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Ghostzapper, is now four-for-five lifetime, with earnings of $324,754.