Onyx Ten winning her second consecutive stakes the Wide Country. (Jim McCue/TMJC)
Dan Illman/Laurel Park
LAUREL, Md.– While Sacred Thunder has been unlucky in his recent races, his tactical stablemate Onyx Ten enjoyed clean trips to score the Xtra Heat at six furlongs on Jan. 25 and the Wide Country at seven panels on Feb. 22.
Despite popping open the gate before the start of the Wide Country, Frank Sample’s Onyx Ten saved ground behind the speeds, eased out for a clear run in the stretch, and wore down pacesetter Safe Trust in the final eighth.
“[Jockey J. G. Torrealba] warmed her up good, hoping she’d break sharp, which she did,” Capuano said in the winner’s circle. “It worked out nice. She just got another great trip.”
Capuano was impressed by the filly’s professionalism.
“The dirt hitting her doesn’t faze her. For a young filly like that, she’s all heart. Nothing seems to bother her.”
Onyx Ten has only raced beyond seven furlongs once, and she finished second in that race, beaten three-quarters of a length as the odds-on favorite in a first-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 27.
Although Capuano admits that Onyx Ten is “built more like a sprinter,” her half-brother Secret Zipper has had great success recently in longer-distance races.
Barak Farm’s Safe Trust will try to turn the tables. A Maryland-bred daughter of Mosler, Safe Trust hit the board in eight of nine starts.
“She was very crazy,” trainer Jose Corrales said after Safe Trust won a first-level allowance at six furlongs on Feb. 7. “It was hard to break her and everything like that, but we got lucky. We have some good people who work with us, and the horse has improved.”
Corrales noted Tuesday that Safe Trust “had a little hesitation with the gate the other day, but we’ll be schooling, and she’s doing okay.” Aside from that hiccup, Corrales has noticed a more mature Safe Trust this year.
Safe Trust stretches out to a route for the first time and has good speed.
“If she can rate, and one or two horses can go in front, I would prefer it like that,” Corrales mentioned. “It’s hard to decide with her because she’s a fighter. [Sometimes] she goes to the front, and she just runs. She tries hard in every race.”
Bran Jam Stable and David Clark’s Ourdaydreaminggirl finished a rallying fourth in the Wide Country after being pinched back at the start. Previously, she finished a well-beaten second in Aqueduct’s Ruthless Stakes on Feb. 1.
“I outsmarted myself,” Linder admitted about the Wide Country. “I entered her to see what it looked like, and I thought there would be enough speed to help her, but it was such a speed bias that day. She couldn’t make up all that ground.”
Like several others in the field, Ourdaydreaminggirl routes for the first time.
“I like [the mile] a lot,” Linder added. “I think that’s going to put her right in her wheelhouse. We’re hoping the mile and if there’s enough speed will make the difference for her.”
Multiple stakes placed My Charm ran fifth in the Xtra Heat.
“Her last start was my fault,” Brittany Russell said. “I shouldn’t have [turned her back to six furlongs]. Looking back, it wasn’t the plan. I thought she could handle it, but we never thought that’s what she wanted to do.”
A winner over the Beyond the Wire course and distance last fall, Glassman Racing’s My Charm should appreciate stretching back out to a route of ground.
Central Casting makes her first stakes appearance after winning a $50,000 starter allowance by 6 ¾ lengths at Aqueduct on Feb. 28. A maiden winner last year for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, Central Casting now races for Jamie Ness and SOK Racing and Mazel Stable Partners.
“She ran well the first time we ran her,” Ness said about a second-place finish at Aqueduct on Jan. 30. “She missed the break and made a good move. The second time, she popped the gates and never looked back. The mile is the whole question mark.”
Ness believes Central Casting “is naturally a fast horse” and expects jockey Jaime Rodriguez to have the World of Trouble filly on or near the lead.
Burner Account, the upset winner of Parx’s Main Line Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 4, won both starts in 2025 by a combined 13 ¼ lengths. Trained by Miguel Rodriguez for Holiday Luck Racing, Burner Account showed early speed in those races.
Stakes-winner Beautiful Blome, second in the Main Line behind Burner Account, and Moon Cache, recently claimed for $40,000 by Gorham, complete the field.
