OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For the second straight race, Whittington Park came with a furious late run, this time running down a seemingly home-free Anejo to win the $100,000 Haynesfield Stakes for New York-breds by a half-length at Aqueduct on Saturday. Anejo, making his first start since May, had a 5 1/2-length lead in midstretch, but had to settle for second, 10 3/4 lengths in front of Dr Ardito. Overstep was fourth, followed by Mama’s Gold. Maker’s Candy, the even-money favorite, was pulled up starting at the quarter pole by Jose Lezcano and was vanned off. The win was the sixth from 17 starts for Whittington Park, a 5-year-old son of Midnight Lute owned by Marshall Gramm’s Ten Strike Racing. It was his second straight win since returning from a layoff following a fourth-place finish in allowance company last August. Trainer Jeremiah Englehart said it was by design to give the horse a break with an eye toward the winter meet. Englehart said the horse seems to have come back with a different attitude. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. “He seems like he has a lot more desire and knows what he wants to do,” Englehart said. “You give him a target now and he wants to run the horse down.” That’s exactly how the Haynesfield played out. Mama’s Gold set the early pace, chased by Maker’s Candy, the two a half-length apart after an opening half-mile in 47.80 seconds. Anejo was third early, but took Davis to the lead after a half-mile. Anejo had a 5 1/2-length lead after six furlongs and maintained that advantage until the midstretch marker. Whittington Park, under Kendrick Carmouche, moved from fifth into second at the quarter pole and came with a sustained rally to get up in the final few strides. “Just sitting back there and relaxing, that is what he wants,” Carmouche said. “Every time you tighten your reins you can feel him starting to pick it up, pick it up, pick it up. He doesn’t really want you to ride him around the turn, [but] as soon as he switched leads you could see he was just in a full-out run to catch this horse.” Whittington Park covered the mile in 1:39.88 and returned $27.20 to win. Davis said he didn’t want to fight with Anejo, which is why he let him get to the lead as early as he did. “He was pretty antsy today, he charged the gate twice, just on the bridle all down the backside,” Davis said. “At that point I didn’t want to get in his way anymore, so I put my hands down from the 3 1/2 to the quarter and then he inherited the lead on his own. I got to work on him there late, but he didn’t want to switch to the right lead - he never does - and he wants to get out at the same time. I thought he ran a great race.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.