BALTIMORE - The list of best older horses in this country has a new name to Include.

Include, making his first appearance in a Grade 1 race, proved he belonged in top company when he wore down heavily favored Albert the Great in the final furlong to take Saturday's $750,000 Pimlico Special before 7,357 at Pimlico Race Course.

	Include catches Albert the Great to win the 2001 Pimlico Special by a neck.

Include, who saved ground for the first mile of the 1 3/16-mile race, was tipped three paths wide at the top of the stretch and needed every inch of ground to finally catch Albert the Great and prevail by a neck. Albert the Great, who carried top weight of 121 pounds and conceded seven pounds to Include, finished 3 3/4 lengths clear of third-place Pleasant Breeze.

The Frank Stronach-owned entry of Milwaukee Brew and Laredo was fourth and fifth, respectively, with the overmatched British invader Sergeant York last in the field of six.

Include covered 1 3/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:55.61 and paid $7 to win as the second choice.

The victory was one for the home team. Include, a 4-year-old colt by Broad Brush, is a Robert Meyerhoff homebred who was bred in Maryland. He is trained by Bud Delp, for whom Include has won eight times in nine starts. Include is eight for 11 overall.

Delp said this was the richest race he had ever won.

"I know I've never won a $750,000 race, because I had never run in one," he said.

Before Saturday, Include's biggest victory was in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap in March. He tuned up for the Special by winning the Jennings Handicap for Maryland-breds here on April 21.

Include likely would not have won, however, if not for a flawless ride by Jerry Bailey. He saved ground on both turns, allowed Albert the Great to make the first move after the leaders, then pounced with Include in the final three-sixteenths of a mile. Include drifted out slightly with 150 yards to go while being whipped left-handed by Bailey, but Bailey switched sticks to his right hand and got Include to run straight and true.

"I don't think Albert the Great was stopping," Bailey said. "My horse just ran him down."

Bailey said he was not sure where Include now rated among the nation's older horses, being as both Tiznow and Captain Steve missed this race. "He's certainly on the improve. He stepped up in a big way," Bailey said.

Albert the Great, the 3-5 favorite, stalked Laredo through fractions of 23.80 seconds, 47.13, and 1:11.45 for the first six furlongs. He had a clear lead at midstretch, but he failed to last, marking a rare loss for red-hot jockey Jorge Chavez. One race before the Special, Chavez guided City Zip to a three-length victory over Sea of Green in the $75,000 Hirsch Jacobs Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds.