Lord ofthe Thunder Wins Aqueduct Finale

Paraneck Stable's favored Lord ofthe Thunder split front-running Mr. Determined and rallying Union One in the lane to win the $81,325 King's Point Handicap for New York breds at Aqueduct on Sunday.

The 4-year-old son of Saint Ballado captured the 1 1/8-mile event by 4 1/2 lengths.

The race was the feature on closing day of Aqueduct's spring meet and attracted 7,634 fans. Racing will resume at Belmont Park on Wednesday with the start of the 55-day spring/summer meet.

Trained by Jennifer Pedersen, Lord ofthe Thunder got a patient ride from jockey Javier Castellano who saved ground from last while Mr. Determined set a pace of :23 4/5; :48 2/5 and 1:12 3/5.

Castellano kept Lord ofthe Thunder ready to strike, and when Sophisticated Man moved at the leader, it opened the hole Lord ofthe Thunder needed to secure the victory in 1:49 2/5.

"Everyone worked hard on this horse the last two days," said winning trainer Jennifer Pedersen. "I knew if we were going to win this race we would have to pull everything out of our hat. I was excited to stretch him out. My only concern was that I ran him the other day in a sprint and that he would be too sharp today. Javier (Castellano) rode a great race. I think the horse really benefited from glue-on shoes behind. He has small feet, and the nail-in shoes weren't working for him."

Mr. Determined was second, with Union One third, beaten by 5 3/4 lengths for it all.

Lord ofthe Thunder earned $48,795 for his sixth win in 16 starts. He has bankrolled $264,339.

Sent off as the 8-5 pick in the field of six, the winner paid $5.20, $3.50 and $2.50. Mr. Determined returned $10.60 and $4.30. Union One's show price was $3.10.

(Chart, Equibase)