Philip J. Messina’s Peppi Knows captured the 31st running of the $100,000 Whirlaway Stakes Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack, in a race in which 2-5 favorite Eightyfiveinafifty bolted during the first turn.

A 3-year-old son of Stephen Got Even, Peppi Knows had run second behind the highly regarded Buddy’s Saint in the Grade 2 Remsen last out on November 28, and was returning to Aqueduct for the second time.

Racing in third after a quarter mile in 23.79 seconds, Peppi Knows tracked comfortably down the backside, assumed the lead on the far turn, and opened up a clear advantage nearing the quarter pole.

He hit the wire a length in front of Afleet Again and completed the 1 1/16th miles in 1:47.10 over the fast inner track.

The Whirlaway was the second stakes win for the Timothy Kreiser trainee who took the Finger Lakes Juvenile last October.

“Everything went well,” Kreiser said. “Obviously, what happened with [No. 2 Eightyfiveinafifty], I don’t know. It would have been nice to see that horse run just to see what we had there.”

Afleet Again, the longest shot on the board in the field of five, rallied from well back to finish second, a length behind Peppi Knows. Three Day Rush finished third.

“It worked out real good for us,” said winning rider Richard Migliore. “We got to save ground when the other horse didn’t make the turn. He’s just a real nice, handy little horse. He’s not a whole lot to look at, but he has a big heart. I just hope Jorge’s alright.”

Gary Contessa, trainer of Eightyfiveinafifty, said after the race that his horse found his way back to the Aqueduct stable area, was brought back to the barn, and appeared to have suffered only a minor injury.

“The horse is okay,” Contessa said. “He has a two-inch cut on his right hind leg, and he’ll need a couple of stitches, but he was walking sound. I’m completely mystified as to what happened. I don’t know if it was the horse, the jockey, or an equipment malfunction. The bit was broken and the rein was shredded – the equipment was in shambles – but I don’t know if that happened during the race of after he bolted. He’s handled the turns fine in the mornings. I have no idea what happened.”

Jockey Jorge Chavez, who was unseated from Eightyfiveinafifty, was conscious and taken by ambulance to North Shore University Hospital for further evaluation.

With the victory, Peppi Knows increased his career record to 4-1-1 from six career starts. The $60,000 winning purse pushed his career earnings to $178,400.