Fox Ridge Farm’s 2007 novice champion Planets Aligned (Padge Whelan) stayed hidden behind a sea of mud being kicked up by Sheila Williams’ Rare Bush (Aizpuru) until the last fence when he surged ahead to win by less than a length in the $50,000 Marcellus Frost Hurdle Stakes.

Trainer Tom Voss of Monkton, Md., thought the ground might suit the 8-year-old grandson of Deputy Minister.

“He’s a nice horse,” Voss said. “It didn’t really set up for him because it was so slow out there and he likes it quicker, but they went sensibly around. He has these big old flat feet, so I didn’t think it would really bother him.”