Winchester beat Gio Ponti by a half length to give trainer Christophe Clement a 1-2 finish in the $400,000 Manhattan Handicap on the turf, the main attraction Saturday on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
Winchester, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, outdueled his more heralded stablemate, the 2009 Eclipse Award winner as the leading grass horse. Gio Ponti, buried in traffic for much of the race, angled to an opening on the rail to launch his stretch run. Westchester, in contrast, had a clear trip on the outside, rallying relentlessly for the $44.80 upset.
Winchester ran the 1 1/4 miles on the firm course in 1:59.46. The 5-year-old got his fourth win in 16 starts.
Champagne d'Oro pulled off a 39-1 shocker in the $300,000 Acorn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Leading all the way, Champagne d'Oro won for only the second time in 10 races. Martin Garcia, riding for the first time at Belmont Park, was aboard for trainer Eric Guillot as Champagne d'Oro held off Amen Hallelujah by a half length.
She ran the one mile in 1:37.44, paying $81 to win.
Bribon won his first race for trainer Todd Pletcher, sweeping past the pack to win the $250,000 True North Handicap.
The 7-year-old gelding who captured the 2009 Metropolitan Handicap was sold privately in the offseason and transferred to Pletcher. He got off to a slow start for the new barn, running second in Barbados followed by a fifth-place finish here in the Westchester.
Bribon looked like his old self in the True North, trailing far behind before kicking into gear around the turn. He beat Snapshot by 1 1/2 lengths while running the six furlongs in 1:09.63. Bribon, ridden by Garrett Gomez, paid $7.50 to win his 10th victory in 33 career starts.
Proviso earned a second straight Grade 1 win in the $400,000 Just a Game Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf.
The 5-year-old beat males in her previous race, the Kilroe Handicap at Santa Anita. Back with her own gender, Proviso faced only five rivals. Never ever worse than second, Proviso took charge in the lane and held off a late run from Phola by a half length.
Hall of Famer Bill Mott took over the training of Proviso following the death of Bobby Frankel last year. For Mott, it was his fourth victory in the 17 runnings of the race.
The win was Proviso's seventh in 20 starts. Proviso paid $4.20 to win as she covered the one mile in 1:34.09.
The $245,000 Woody Stephens for 3-year-olds set up perfectly for D'Funnybone. Eightyfiveinafifty and Discreetly Mine hooked up in a draining speed duel with D'Funnybone sitting third. Turning for home, jockey Edgar Prado and D'Funnybone rallied past the tiring leaders, pulling away to a 3 1/4-length win.
D'Funnybone, trained by Rick Dutrow, got his third stakes win in four starts this year, paying $4.40 to win. The time was 1:22.64 for the seven furlongs. Discreetly Mine, in his first start since running 13th in the Kentucky Derby, held on for second with Remand third.
