Black Diamond Cat trounces Montbrook field
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Photo:
Ashley Tamulonis
Bluestone Thoroughbreds’ Black Diamond Cat is having the best year of his career. The 6-year
old Wildcat Heir is a veteran of the South Florida racing circuit having
exclusively raced in the Sunshine State, but Gulfstream Park’s new summer meet
has certainly agreed with the Larry Bates trainee. In two starts on the main
track, Black Diamond Cat has recorded two wins and in doing so, has become the
first dual stakes winner of the meet after thoroughly trouncing today’s Montbrook field.
Breaking from the rail, Black Diamond Cat and jockey Jilver Chamafi were content to sit
right off the pace as Timeless Indy posted a very pedestrian 25:29 first
quarter. After being pushed through a
grueling 21:89 second quarter by Sr. Quisqueyano, Timeless Indy folded. As the
initial pacesetter backed up, Black Diamond Cat slipped through on the rail and
it was game over from there. The bay gelding gained the lead leaving the turn
and steadily increased his advantage to hit the wire 5 lengths the best. Grande
Shores followed right in the winner’s hoof prints up the inside to close for
second followed by post time favorite Majestic Express.
Eight Miles East winner Sr. Quisqueyano checked in fourth
with Imperial Czar, Joshua’s Comprise, Megamove, and Timeless Indy completing
the order of finish. Black Diamond Cat ran the mile in 1.37:39 and paid
$7.00/$4.40/$3.20 as the second choice.
Black Diamond Cat was a $6,000 yearling purchase for Bluestone Thoroughbreds, and he has
more than made his purchase worth it. The $60,000 winner’s share of the
Montbrook’s $100,000 purse boosted the gelding’s career earnings to $462,454
and proved that under the right circumstances the sprinter could stretch out to
get a mile, something he’d previously tried twice before with so-so results.
Today’s win was another milestone for the bay gelding. His
perfect two-for-two record at this meet pushed him to the top of the meet’s leader
board. His jockey for the meet, Jilver Chamafi, currently sits in second place
behind leader Edgard Zayas, who was
aboard Grande Shores today. Zayas leads the meet with 29 wins to Chamafi’s 25
wins. Prior to today’s card, Zayas had the lead by 7 wins, but by booting home
four winners today, Chamafi was able to close the gap considerably.
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