Churchill Downs, $45,400 MSW 3/up, 6 1/2 furlongs.
SPIKE THE FEVER, highly regarded 2YO purchased by Winstar Farm and trained by Elliot Walden has always been close in each of his four starts and closed out his brief freshman campaign with a 2nd place finish at Keeneland last October. Churchill bettors made Spike the Fever their 4-5 choice to get the job done here and he pressed the pace early and dueled determindly to be the best of the first three in a tough field who were 6 3/4 lengths ahead of the rest of the pack. Lifetime 4-1-2-1.
