(May 16, 2008) - Adam R. Lewis' six-year-old gelding Wind Water, trained by Chris Hartman and ridden by Ken Tohill, took his six opponents gate-to-finish, and withstood a bold late challenge, to win the $50,000 Ford Express Stakes by a head over the Jack Bruner-trained Sing Baby Sing. Orphan Brigade, who finished second in the Ford Express in 2007, was four-and-a-half lengths back in third.

Sent off as an even money favorite, Wind Water recovered from a clumsy start to make every pole a winning one while setting fractions of :21.66, :44.24, :56.31. He completed the six-furlong trip in 1:08.80. Wind Water earned $30,000 for his effort to increase his lifetime earnings to $639,351. It was his 16th win from 43 starts, and half of his victories have been in stakes races.

"He has a lot of speed and he's all class," said winning trainer Chris Hartman. "He's been doing well since we got him and we thought he would run well tonight."

Winning Jockey Ken Tohill added, "I was having a little trouble getting him to settle down after he bobbled at the start. He rushed up to the lead, and even though he's six-years-old, he's like a young horse and he likes to get out there and go, but Chris really had him ready and he ran great,"

Wind Water paid $4.20, $3.00, $2.40, runner-up Sing Baby Sing returned $4.20, $2.80, and Orphan Brigade paid $2.60 for show. Gyrovagi, Gold Wonder, War Bridle, and Dallas County completed the order of finish.