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Back of the Bus scores in the Willamette River Stakes Portland, OR- March 7, 2011 - Back of the Bus took command as the field came into the stretch and was just able to hold off a hard charging Littleman John to score a slight upset in the $16,800 Willamette River Stakes at Portland Meadows on Monday. Sent off as the 4 to 1 third choice in the field of seven, Back of the Bus settled back off the early pace which was a contested one set by Tomcat Jake and Be a Monster. Those two battled early while favored Topper’s Trooper sat back in third, just ahead of Back of the Bus. As the field moved into the final turn, Topper’s Trooper quickly backed out of contention as Back of the Bus started to roll. Back of the Bus seized command at the top of the lane from Tomcat Jake and was able to hold off the strong late close of Littleman John to win by a head in the end. Back of the Bus is owned by Re Run Stables and trained by Felimon Alvarado. Javier Matias was aboard for the winning score and the one mile race was finished in a time of 1:41.94. The Willamette River Stakes was the final prep for the $30,000 Portland Meadows Derby which will be ran on Wednesday March 23rd along with the $50,000 Portland Mile.