Awesome Vision gave his Partners something to smile about on Friday afternoon at Saratoga. After a narrow defeat in the July 22 Evan Shipman, he turned the tables on Bigger Is Better in the nine-furlong Saratoga Sunrise Stakes for New York breds.

Awesome Vision gave his Partners something to smile about on Friday afternoon at Saratoga. After a narrow defeat in the July 22 Evan Shipman, he turned the tables on Bigger Is Better in the nine-furlong Saratoga Sunrise Stakes for New York breds.

There were a number of Partners in attendance on Friday who got their picture taken with the 4-year-old Awesome Again colt also known as the “Vishj” around the barn. Terry and Debbie Finley desperately tried to to make the race after flying into Albany Airport following a trip to Del Mar, but unfortunately came up just a few minutes short.

Under Irad Ortiz, Jr., Awesome Vision assumed a comfortable stalking position in the early stages of the race before collaring the frontrunners on the far turn, assuming command, and driving clear in deep stretch.

Ortiz, Jr said, “He was ready, he gave me everything he had today.”

Trainer Tom Albertrani said he felt good before the race. “[Awesome Vision] just seemed a bit sharper this time, and we came back a little quicker. He just looked great in the paddock. He was on his toes. I liked the way he was training up into the race.”

Albertrani added, “I think the difference was he was right up on the lead turning for home so I felt pretty good about that. It was just a matter of changing leads. He has a tendency of not changing, but he did manage to change leads and found another gear at the sixteenth pole and that’s what made a difference today. Usually he doesn’t want to change his leads and that might be the difference of winning and losing a race. But he had it today.”

The Saratoga Sunrise marked the second career stakes win for Awesome Vision — he dead heated with the salty veteran Saginaw in the March 21 Compelling Word Stakes at Aqueduct. The dark bay colt has a record of 6-1-1 from 11 career starts and earnings of $274,222.

Awesome Vision is under consideration for the $200,000 Greenwood Cup (G3) run at 1 1/2 miles on the dirt on September 2 at Parx Racing. “This horse doesn’t have a huge turn of foot, but rather a sustained drive that could make him very effective going a mile and a half,” said WPT president Terry Finley. “The marathon division typically isn’t that strong, and his numbers certainly stack up.”