Lone Rock Towers Over Four Isaac Murphy Foes

Flying P Stable and R. A. Hill Stable's Lone Rock , the top dirt marathoner in North America in 2021, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite against four rivals in the May 3 Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The $160,000 Isaac Murphy, run at 1 1/2 miles, highlights a nine-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m. ET. Owing to its short field and with a heavy favorite, the race is carded early on the card as the second race with a 1:14 post time.

Few are eager to take on Lone Rock, who last year won five stakes, including the Isaac Murphy. Other notable victories came in the Brooklyn Stakes Presented by Northwell Health (G2) at Belmont Park and the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes (G2) at Del Mar.

This year after a failed attempt in the 1 1/16-mile Razorback Stakes (G3) Feb. 12 at Oaklawn Park, where the Robertino Diodoro trainee ran sixth, Lone Rock rebounded to win the 1 1/2-mile Temperence Hill Stakes there April 3, defeating subsequent Oaklawn Handicap (G2) winner Last Samurai .

Regular jockey Ramon Vazquez returns aboard Lone Rock, a 7-year-old gelding by Majestic Warrior .

Winchell Thoroughbreds' millionaire Tenfold , third in the Temperence Hill, appears to be his principal adversary. Tenfold's trainer, Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, has named Joel Rosario to ride.

Current , Celerity , and Hozier  complete the field.

Entries: Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight S.

Churchill Downs, Tuesday, May 03, 2022, Race 2

• STK
• 1 1/2m
• Dirt
• $160,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 1:14 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Lone Rock (KY)	Ramon A. Vazquez	123	Robertino Diodoro	3/5
2	2Current (KY)	Christopher A. Emigh	118	Brittany A. Vanden Berg	7/2
3	3Celerity (KY)	Vincent Cheminaud	118	Waylon Cundiff	20/1
4	4Tenfold (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	Steven M. Asmussen	5/2
5	5Hozier (KY)	Flavien Prat	118	Rodolphe Brisset	10/1