Cosmic Burst rallies late to capture Honeybee Stakes

Norma Lee Stockseth and Todd Dunn’s Cosmic Burst earned herself 50 points towards Kentucky Oaks eligibility with a late rally to win Saturday’s $200,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) before an on-track crowd of 17,000.

Rebounding from a third last out in Martha Washington Stakes, Cosmic Burst settled into second as Amy’s Challenge shot out of the gate to grab the early lead through fractions of :23.27 and :46.02 for the first half mile while holding an eight-length advantage. The winner, ridden patiently by Richard Eramia, was angled five wide into the stretch and rallied in the final strides to gain the advantage by 1 ¾ lengths over the early leader at the wire. She completed the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:44.19 over a fast track.

“She definitely broke better today,” winning trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel said. “And, we saw the filly we expected to see last time (in the Martha Washington). You can probably blame the track a little bit for last time. She wasn’t herself from the get go that day for whatever reason. Hopefully, she’s back on track.”

Amy’s Challenge, making her first start around two turns, earned 20 points towards Kentucky Oaks eligibility, Sassy Sienna earned 10 points for third and 4-5 favorite Red Ruby earned five points for fourth.

Cosmic Burst, a Violence filly, has now four of her six career starts and has earned $267,080. She returned $10.80, $4.80 and $4 as the 4-1 third choice in the eight-horse field.