SARATOGA SPRINGS — Building on the promise he showed graduating gate-to-wire by 13 3/4 lengths on June 1 at Belmont Park, the 2-year-old colt Bern Identity, after being outrun for the early lead, dug in late under a never-say-die ride by Rosie Napravnik and clawed past front-runner Handsome Jack to win yesterday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sanford Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths before a crowd of 18,425.

Owned by George and Lori Hall of Rumson, N.J., and trained by Kelly Breen, Bern Identity earned a $100,000 bonus from the New York Racing Association for winning a 2-year-old stakes at Saratoga after breaking his maiden downstate.

“Without the bonus, I don’t know if I would have run him in New York to begin with,” said Monmouth Park-based Kelly Breen. “When we show up, we’re here for a reason. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think he was a nice horse.”

In the Sanford, Handsome Jack busted out of post 1 under Joel Rosario and dueled with Brave Dave through lightning fractions of :21.60 and :44.70 as those two pulled clear of the field.

Bern Identify, favored at 9-5, was being urged from the break by Napravnik, and he looked like a beaten horse as they rounded the turn.

“I was a little surprised they outran him in the beginning,” Breen said. “Around the turn, it was a little nerve-wracking. [Napravnik] never had a chance to give him a breather. He showed a lot of grit, getting dirt kicked in his face.”

Breen — whose first win in New York, in 1992, came with a female rider named Julie Krone — could be in for a big meet. On Wednesday, he saddles 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler on Ice in an optional claimer, his first start since the Feb. 11 Donn Handicap, and Breen’s 3-year-old colt My Adonis could race in the Jim Dandy and Travers.