HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher said just minutes after Colonel Liam drew off to an impressive 3 1/4-length triumph over Don Juan Kitten in Saturday’s $75,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park that he hoped the effort would be good enough to earn his horse an invitation to the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 23. In light of Colonel Liam’s performance in the Tropical Derby, it would seem all Pletcher has to do to secure that invitation is to make sure the selection committee sees a tape of the race. Making his first start since finishing a troubled fourth against a star-studded field in the Saratoga Derby Invitational on Aug. 15, Colonel Liam was confidently handled by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the 1 1/16-mile Tropical Park Derby. Rating outside horses in mid-pack for the opening six furlongs, Colonel Liam advanced strongly around the second turn, continued his rally while widest into the stretch, readily overtook the pacesetting Don Juan Kitten, before extending his advantage under pressure to the end. :: Start earning weekly cashback on your wagering today. Click to learn more. Don Juan Kitten, graded stakes-placed earlier in the year, proved no match for the winner when challenged into the stretch, but dug-in gamely to finish second, a neck in front of Colonel Liam’s stablemate Summer to Remember. The win was the second in three starts on grass for Colonel Liam, a son of Liam’s Map who is owned by Robert and Lawana Low. He completed the distance over a firm course in 1:40.95 and paid $4.40. “I thought it was an impressive race,” Pletcher said. “He had to make a bit of an early move and then kept on going. He’s really taken to the turf. We saw that when he won the allowance race at Saratoga. We gave him a little freshening, he trained exceptionally well, and we’re really happy to have him back.  Hopefully that gets him into the Pegasus Turf.  It is an invitational, so I’ll lobby for it.” In light of his performance in the Tropical Park Derby, that likely will not be necessary. Sir Anthony wins H. Allen Jerkens Stakes Sir Anthony showed both his versatility and his staying power when rallying to a three-quarter-length victory over the pacesetting Conviction Trade in the grueling, two-mile H. Allen Jerkens Stakes. The winner’s final time of 3:19.48 seconds established a course record over the seldom-used distance.  The win was the first of two stakes tallies on the card for jockey Julien Leparoux. Sir Anthony shipped to South Florida from his Illinois base to win the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday to close out his 2018 campaign and returned to finish second the following year in the Grade 3 Skip Away, both races decided over the main track.  The Allen Jerkens marked only the fifth time Sir Anthony, a son of Mineshaft, had started over the turf with his best previous effort on grass a third-place finish going 1 1/16 miles against Illinois-breds at Arlington Park late this summer. Leparoux, the eighth different jockey to ride Sir Anthony in his last eight starts, settled the 25-1 outsider in mid-pack for the opening 1 1/2 miles.  Sir Anthony began to advance leaving the backstretch the second time around, engaged pacesetting Conviction Trade into the stretch, stuck his head in front a sixteenth from the wire and was edging off at the end.  Conviction Trade was easily second-best, finishing 2 1/2  lengths in front of Cowtown. Focus Group, the tepid 5-2 favorite, raced well back and never menaced, finishing seventh in a field of 11 older, long-winded turf specialists. Owned by Richard Otto Stables Inc., Sir Anthony paid $58.00. Vigilante's Way takes Tropical Park Oaks Leparoux registered his second stakes win on the card aboard Vigilante’s Way, who led throughout before pulling away to a decisive 2 1/4-length decision over More Than Unusual in the $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks. Speaktomeofsummer finished third. Vigilante’s Way contested the early pace with the 108-1 Blue Mistress, disposed of that one after six furlongs, kicked clear upon settling into the stretch and was never seriously threatened thereafter. More Than Unusual raced forwardly placed while outside horses, outlasting Speaktomeofsummer by a nose while never menacing the winner.  Sparkling Sky, the even-money favorite, never factored, finishing fifth in a field of 10 3-year-old fillies. Vigilante’s Way covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.61, her final time was .34 seconds faster than Colonel Liam completed the same distance an hour earlier in the Tropical Park Derby. A Phipps Stable homebred by Medaglia d’Oro, she paid $7.00 “She’s a half-sister to Mr. Speaker, who really liked the grass, so we always had it in mind,” trainer Shug McGaughey said of Vigilante’s Way, who made her first three career starts on dirt. “I was a little surprised she was on the lead. That was not our intention. She just broke good, she was there. Julien said he was able to give her a couple of breathers and she seemed to relax really well going down the backside. It looked like he had horse the whole way and when she switched leads turning for home, I thought we were in pretty good shape.”