Winchester, winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington in the summer of 2008, picked up his first victory since that race by taking the featured eighth race at Keeneland Wednesday, a second-level allowance going 1 1/2 miles on turf.
In traffic for much of the race, he finally found clear running room in the stretch and just got up in the closing yards to edge 56-1 longshot Memorial Maniac by a half length under Garrett Gomez.
The winner, a 5-year-old son of Theatrical trained by Christophe Clement and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Firestone, paid $2.80 as the heavy favorite, and covered the distance on a firm course in 2:31.87.
The victory could prove to be a key confidence booster for Winchester, who had settled for minor awards in major graded stakes marathons on the turf over the past couple years.
