FLORENCE, Ky. -- Larry Melancon had been aboard Guided Tour so many times, he knew just what to do.

He kept Guided Tour close to the pacesetter, then outlasted Balto Star in a stretch duel to win the $400,000 Kentucky Cup Classic by a neck Saturday at Turfway Park.

It was a perfect ride, especially since trainer Niall O'Callaghan put Melancon on his own.

"Niall didn't give me any instructions. `Good luck' was all he said," Melancon said.

Balto Star, a spring sensation that flopped in the Triple Crown races, was first out of the gate but never could get clear of Guided Tour, which stayed within a length until the top of the stretch.

"The race set up just as I thought it would with Balto Star because he was the only speed in the race," Melancon said. "Going in, I thought that I wanted to be close, but I didn't want to use my horse because he hadn't run in a long time and I wanted to keep a little for the end.

"He was laying close, but he was comfortable and I was happy where he was. And when I called on him, he was there. He ran a big race."

Guided Tour pulled even, put a head in front at the 16th pole and beat Balto Star, ridden by Pat Day.

"You've got to give the folks who handle the winner a lot of credit," Day said. "With my horse having most of the speed in the race, they weren't going to let me get away with anything.

"The winner stalked me and pushed me throughout, and he finally wore me down at the finish."

Guided Tour covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:47 4-5 and paid $5, $2.60 and $2.20. Balto Star returned $2.60 and $2.20. A Fleets Dancer, eight lengths back, paid $3.20 to show.

"I didn't think I had the race won until late," O'Callaghan said. "But, really, from the five-eighths until about the eighth pole, a lot of times when you are against Pat, he always seems to have something left.

"He had the lead and you just wonder, "Has he got something? He always has something.' But when we got beside him, I did think we would win then because I felt that our horse would battle."

Balto Star, winner of the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn, did not place in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont. He won an allowance race on the turf at Saratoga while prepping for the Classic, and Turfway fans -- remembering how he won by 12 1/4 lengths here in March -- made him the slight favorite.

Guided Tour is 4-1-1 in seven starts this year and has won three straight Grade II races, starting with the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs in June and the Washington Park Handicap at Arlington Park in July.

The Grade II Classic was the featured race in the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions at Turfway Park. There were three other graded stakes on the card.

Snow Ridge, trained by D. Wayne Lukas and ridden by Day, beat City Zip by a neck in the Grade II Sprint. Trip, trained by Frank Brothers and ridden by Craig Perret, beat Precious Feather by three lengths in the Grade III Turfway Breeders' Cup. Repent, trained by Kenneth McPeek and ridden by Tony D'Amico, won the Grade III Juvenile by 1 1/2 lengths over French Assault.