Black Onyx succeeded in pulling off a surprising upset in the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati Racing Spiral Stakes (gr. III) at Turfway Park, rallying for a 1 1/2-length triumph at odds of 15.70-1.
With jockey Joe Bravo aboard, Black Onyx settled into mid-pack early on in a field of twelve, about four lengths off the pace set by Mac the Man, who set moderate fractions of :23.74, :48.30, and 1:13.00 seconds. Giant Finish and Taken by the Storm were racing second and third, followed closely by Uncaptured, Black Onyx, and Fear the Kitten. My Name is Michael, Balance the Books, Channel Isle, Capo Bastone, For Greater Glory, and General Election were the trailers. Capo Bastone, who stumbled at the start, seemed to dislike the kick-back in his face.
The positions remained relatively unchanged throughout much of the race, but approaching the three-eighths pole, Taken by the Storm moved up to take command of the lead and loomed a serious contender for the win. However, Black Onyx soon came running on the far outside, rallying past Taken by the Storm just prior to the eighth pole to seize command of the race. From there, the outcome was never really in question, as Black Onyx stayed on strongly to win by 1 1/2 lengths over the late-rallying Uncaptured. The final time for nine furlongs was 1:51.98 seconds.
Giant Finish presented a moderate rally to claim third place, while Taken by the Storm weakened in the final furlong to finish fourth. Fear the Kitten, For Greater Glory, Channel Isle, My Name is Michael, Capo Bastone, General Election, Balance the Books, and Mac the Man completed the order of finish; the latter was eased to the wire.
Owned by Sterling Racing and trained by Kelly Breen, Black Onyx is a son of Rock Hard Ten out of the Cape Town mare Kalahari Cat. He has compiled a record of three wins and a second from five starts, with earnings of $407,810.
-Keelerman
No comments:
Post a Comment