True North BC

Woke Up Dreamin was wide awake to score in the True North (Debra Kral/Horsephotos.com)

Michael Pegram’s WOKE UP DREAMIN went right to the lead in Saturday’s
$212,900
True North Breeders’ Cup H. (G2)
at Belmont Park under jockey Mike Smith and never looked
back. The five-year-old son of 1994 Kentucky Derby (G1) favorite Holy Bull, whom
Smith rode to an eventual 12th-place finish in the classic, woke up for the first time
against stakes company when wiring the first of six graded stakes on the Belmont
S. (G1) undercard.

Smokume (Smoke Glacken) pressed the eventual winner through an opening
quarter in :21 4/5 and a rapid :44 2/5 for the half-mile as Voodoo (Petionville)
and Key Deputy (Deputy Minister) sat just behind the dueling leaders. The latter
started to trail off entering the turn, and Mass Media (Touch Gold) began to come
on as the field entered the stretch. However, Woke Up Dreamin found more as the closers
put in their runs, kicking clear in the final sixteenth to record a
two-length victory and stopping the clock in 1:08 1/5 for six furlongs on the
fast track.

The Bob Baffert trainee returned $13.80, $7.70 and $5 at 5-1 while keying exotics of
$337 for the exacta and $2,451 for the 7-4-9 trifecta. Voodoo, never far back
throughout the entire contest, was three-quarters of a length ahead of Mass
Media at the wire and gave back $21.20 and $9.70 as the 25-1 second-longest shot
in the field. Mass Media finished third and was worth $5.10. Post-time favorite Smokume came next, and was followed by Willy O’the Valley (Will’s Way), Aggadan
(Carnivalay), Vicarage (Vicar), With Distinction (Storm Cat), Key Deputy and
Sing Me Back Home (Homebuilder). Abbondanza (Alphabet Soup) and Always Noble
(Suave Prospect) were withdrawn.