Vangilder came flying late to score a three-quarter length victory in Saturday’s $70,000 Charles Taylor Derby, the first stakes start and win for the 3-year-old Paynter colt (VIDEO).
The winner is the fifth stakes winner this year for his sire, who is fourth on the Third-Crop sires list with over $2.7 million in progeny earnings and 58 individual winners to date.
The post-time favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race, Vangilder was at least a half-dozen lengths off the lead for the first six furlongs, then commenced a four-wide move coming into the stretch. Still about three lengths from the lead with just a furlong to run, the bay colt finished with a flourish to emerge victorious.
Vangilder is owned by Charles Hovitz and was bred by Best A Luck Farm. He is a half-brother to two-time stakes winner Shenandoah Queen, while his dam High Speed Goldie has a pair of graded stakes-winning siblings.
