HOT SPRINGS -- The principal question about the winner was answered in short order.
Off at 3-5, the wonderfully-bred Victory Formation rushed to the lead out of the gate, established it in the short run to the first turn, and held it throughout for a 3-length win in the $250,000 1-mile Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-old horses in 1:38.14 before an estimated crowd of 8,000 at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort on Sunday.
His connections and the rest of the world now know Victory Formation can excel around two turns.
"He broke really well," said Victory Formation's jockey Flavien Prat. "I didn't have much of a game plan before the race. I was just hoping to get him into the race and get a good spot. When he broke so well, he got us into the lead, and from that point, I was just cruising all the way around. He responded well when I asked him to make a little move."
The Smarty Jones is the first of four Oaklawn races to offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Ten points go to the winner, owned by Spendthrift Farm and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations.
Brad Cox trains Victory Formation and Angel of Empire, who Joe Talamo rode at 18-1 to second, 3 lengths in front of third-place Dennington. Western Ghent was fourth, 6 1/2 lengths behind the winner.
Second through fourth earned four, three, and two qualifying points, respectively. How Did He Do That finished fifth to earn one point.
Victory Formation's two starts as a 2-year-old -- both wins -- drew meaningfully high speed ratings, particularly his latest at 6 furlongs against $100,000 optional claimers at Churchill Downs on Nov. 26, a race he won in 1:09.53. Reasons for uncertainty among gamblers and other observers were that Victory Formation had never raced beyond the 6 1/2 furlongs of his maiden win at Keeneland Race Course on Oct. 21, which made the Smarty Jones his first start in a stakes race and around two turns.
Still, Cox said he thought Victory Formation's breeding enhanced his chance to race long, and evidence was plentiful. Victory Formation's sire Tapwrit won the 2017 Grade I 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes. His maternal grandsire, the late Smart Strike, was named North American Sire of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
Shortly after the Smarty Jones, Cox said there was no way to know without a race like the one won by Victory Formation on Oaklawn's fast track.
"The breeding suggested he would go long," Cox said. "You never really know if they will go two turns until they do it. He has to confirm it. We have opinions. Horses have the answers. He gave us the right answer today."
Under Pratt, Victory Formation broke on top from the eighth stall, began a trek across the others toward the rail a furlong after the start and appeared to cruise thereafter.
Victory Formation led through the quarter-mile in 23.20, with Western Ghent 2 lengths back in second. Albaugh Family Stables' Angel of Empire was in seventh, 6 3/4 lengths behind the winner.
Fletcher said he gained confidence by the ease of Victory Formation's effort as he cruised through a half-mile split of 47.75.
"I loved it when I saw the [half-mile] time," said Fletcher of North Little Rock and an owner of multiple car dealerships. "I've learned to watch the times. He went in 47 and that's pretty slow. I was worried he had to come out of the eighth position and give a lot of energy."
By then, Angel of Empire was in fourth, 3 lengths off the lead.
At three-quarters, run in 1:12.36, Victory Formation led by 1 1/2 lengths over Western Ghent, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, in second. Angel of Empire was in third and within 2 1/2 lengths of the lead.
Angel of Empire was in second, 3 lengths behind Victory Formation at the head of the stretch. The gap would remain the same through the wire.
"I thought I had a really good shot, but Flavien, he had so much horse, and once he let him go, he just sort of took off," Talamo said. "My horse was still coming, too. He definitely can improve off of that and move forward."
Cox said it was doubtful Victory Formation would enter Oaklawn's second Derby qualifier, the Grade III 1 1/16th-mile Southwest Stakes set for Jan. 28.
"I'm a believer in taking time with these horses early in their careers," Cox said.
Cox said Oaklawn's Grade II 1 1/16th-mile Rebel Stakes, scheduled for Feb. 25, is among multiple options thereafter.
"I think we have a great system with these 3-year-olds, and so far it's working," Cox said.
Fletcher said he likes for his horses to race at Oaklawn but leaves the decisions to Cox.
"My role in this is to write the checks, celebrate, and that's about it," he said. "I don't have anything to do with [the rest of it]."