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Patriots Rule wins Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) Patriots Rule won the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths Saturday at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Fernando Perez, Patriots Rule ran one mile on turf in 1:36.83 and paid $19, $6.80 and $4.40 at 8-1 odds.

Awesome Return returned $4 and $3, while Weewinnin was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $4 to show.

Patriots Rule settled into last place out of the starting gate and started to rally wide into the far turn before sustaining a five-wide charge through the stretch.

''The turf is a little wet today, he didn't handle it great at first,'' Perez said. ''He likes to close and he finishes well though, so I wasn't worried. He doesn't like to be inside. In his last race, he was on the inside and was fighting the whole time, but today I had a really good trip and he fired.''

The victory, worth $60,000, increased Patriots Rule's career earnings to $335,480, with five wins in 17 starts, including three on the track's turf course.