The nation’s leading sire got his third stakes winner in the past six days on Aug. 13 when Stars and Stripes out-dueled Parchment Party to win the $200,000 Birdstone S. at Saratoga.

The 4-year-old colt won the Ben Ali S. (G3) earlier this year and was making his first start beyond a 1 ¼-miles in Thursday’s 1 ¾-mile contest.

As is often the case in marathon races, the early fractions were soft, with Annexperience leading the way through a mile in 1:43.59. Meanwhile, Stars and Stripes was tucked in along the rail in third, pace about two lengths off the pace. Annexperience gave way to Passing Game on the final turn, with Stars and Stripes and Parchment Party both making bids for the lead coming into the stretch.

With Passing Game sandwiched between them, Parchment Party took a narrow lead over Stars and Stripes in the final sixteenth, but Stars and Stripes found one final burst to win by a nose.

“I had him entered at Monmouth, but the race is only a mile and a sixteenth and I didn’t think it was the right spot,” said winning trainer Bill Mott. “Although this was an unknown to us, I knew he wanted to go a mile and an eighth or further, so why not just jump to a mile and three-quarters, what the heck?”

Stars and Stripes is now 5-1-1 in nine starts and has earned $542,033 for Frassetto Stables LLC. Bred by Pam and Martin Wygod, Stars and Stripes is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Waves of Mischief.