Onyx Ten and J. G. Torrealba find the seam in the Wide Country. (The Maryland Jockey Club)
Dan Illman/The Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Twenty-four hours after half-brother Secret Zipper won his fourth consecutive start, Onyx Ten captured the $100,000 Wide Country Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs.
Onyx Ten warmed up vigorously and was sharp before the race, briefly popping open her starting stall before settling into post position five.
As with Barbadian Runner, Onyx Ten found the pocket on the backstretch while Safe Trust and Field of Roses sparred through splits of 23.21 and 47.05. Jockey J. G. Torrealba found a seam between those two fillies turning into the stretch, surged past them at the three-sixteenths pole, then drove under the wire a length better than hard-trying Safe Trust.
Favored Icona Mama placed another 1 ¼ lengths back in third. Next came Ourdaydreaminggirl, Shkhara Fire, Not Too Late, New Boots, and Field of Roses.
Onyx Ten completed the distance in 1:25.82 and returned $8.20 to win as the public’s second betting choice.
“[Torrealba] warmed her up good, hoping she’d break sharp, which she did. It worked out nice. She just got another great trip,” said trainer Gary Capuano, who conditions both Onyx Ten and Secret Zipper for owner-breeder Frank Sample.
While Secret Zipper is a hulking gelding that needed time to mature before finding his best stride, Onyx Ten is very professional.
“He’s such a big, gangly horse,” Capuano said of Secret Zipper. “He’s got a lot of length to him like that two-turn kind of horse.”
Capuano then described Onyx Ten. “She’s big, but she’s stout and more compact. She’s built more like a sprinter. 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 is by Street Magician. A 12 ½ length maiden winner in her second start, a waiver maiden at Delaware on Aug. 2, Onyx Ten finished second in her stakes debut 12 days later, the restricted Blue Hen Stakes. She placed third in her penultimate start last year when beaten 3 ¼ lengths by divisional leader Caprice in the Maryland Juvenile Filly.
Onyx Ten has won three of ten starts for lifetime earnings of $191,065. Capuano mentioned the $100,000 Beyond the Wire Stakes at one mile on March 22 as a likely next start.
“As long as everything is good,” Capuano said of the Beyond the Wire. “As a 3-year-old, you got to get what you can when you can. Right now, she’s doing everything right.”
