Anyone who watched the Triple Crown races this year, regardless of their rooting interests, could not help but like Hard Spun. The Danzig colt danced every dance, always gave his best and always gave a great show.

Saturday afternoon, on Travers Day, he finally got the Grade 1 prize he was after and he did it his way.

Locked into a stretch duel with the talented First Defence, who actually grabbed the lead at one point, Hard Spun came back under jockey Mario Pino to win the 23rd running of the $250,000 King’s Bishop for three-year-olds at seven furlongs.

This was Hard Spun’s 11th career start, eighth this year, and after competing in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, he came back on August 5th to run second to Any Given Saturday in the Grade 1, nine-furlong Haskell Invitational.

That convinced trainer Larry Jones to turn him back in distance for the King’s Bishop.

Spin Master took the pacesetter role, breaking from post 2 and scorching the first quarter of a mile in :21.44 and the half in :44.20. Hard Spun took position just behind, and First Defence and jockey Javier Castellano targeted Hard Spun.

Coming off the turn, First Defence engaged Hard Spun, who took over the lead and the inside position. The war was waged, but Hard Spun kicked away at the sixteenth pole and went on to win in 122:34 on the fast main track.

“He got to loafing when he made the lead, and I started to worry,” Pino said. “As soon as he felt First Defence next to him, he switched leads and his class came out. That horse made a quick run at him, and it took him a little bit to get going turning for home, but once he leveled off, he went to the wire with his ears up. It is 95 degrees and he didn’t even take a deep breath. He wasn’t laboring, he was just looking for competition.”

The competition will get steeper, as Hard Spun will now look to run against older horses, with the main objective the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth Park on October 27.

“He hadn’t won a Grade 1 yet, so this is very good,” Jones said, after Hard Spun returned $4.60 to win. “It’s very important for his stallion career to have the Grade 1 under him. This is a very important race for making stallions, and that was one reason we looked at it. He has shown up at every dance and run well. He’s handled whatever we’ve thrown at him. He keeps his undefeated record going around one turn.

“This race came up very tough. I was worried about the pace, but he was keeping up with it very easy. I’ve seen him run these fractions before, when he was a younger horse and not nearly as strong as he is now, so I felt pretty good about that. He was bound and determined. He was game. He’s just as game as he is fast. We’re still looking for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Oct. 27, Monmouth Park). We decided to go into it gaining distance. We know he can get a mile and a quarter. We’ll look for a mile or a mile and an eighth race between now and the Classic.”

First Defence, in only his sixth career start and first grade 1 contest, was strong.

“He did great,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel. “He ran hard and he actually got a head in front. But experience got us beat today. He put in a good performance and I was happy with him.”

Trainer Bob Baffert was also pleased with the effort of E Z Warrior, who ran third.

“He actually broke well,” Baffert said. “They just out-ran him there early and he was just a little short. David (Flores, jockey) says he wants to run farther. I liked the way he ran. He has a new dimension: as a two-year-old, he was quick, and now, at the end today, he was the only one running. So, I can stretch him out and go further. I was happy with his race. The winner is a very good horse, but I like the way our horse ran.”

Teuflesberg was fourth, followed by Most Distinguished, Bold Start, King of the Roxy, Longley, Pauillac, Fort Grams and Spin Master.