Donworth stamped himself as a three-year-old to watch during the coming months when he scored an incredibly easy victory in the 8.5-furlong Stanton Stakes at Delaware Park, winning by eleven lengths while just missing the track record.
Sent off as the 1-5 favorite against five rivals, Donworth settled just a length off the lead early on while tracking modest fractions of :23.46 and :48.06 set by Scattered, then advanced strongly on the outside to take command through six furlongs in 1:11.78. Then, under no urging from jockey Trevor McCarthy, Donworth started pulling away from the field, cruising through a fourth quarter-mile in a sharp :23.89 to pass the mile marker in 1:35.65 before running the final sixteenth in :05.87 to win with complete ease. His final time of 1:41.54 missed the track record by just 0.02 seconds.
Owned by Regis Racing and trained by Graham Motion, Donworth entered the Stanton off two on-the-board efforts in stakes company, having finished second in the Lexington Stakes (gr. III) two starts back and third in the Sir Barton Stakes last time out. But with his victory in the Stanton, Donworth looks poised to join the ranks of the elite three-year-olds in the country, and races like the Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) or Haskell Invitational (gr. I) look like logical targets for his next race.
A son of Tiznow out of the Street Cry mare Temple Street, Donworth was bred by K.C. Garrett Farm and has now compiled a record of 2-1-1 from 4 starts, with earnings of $144,000.
