Cairo Surprise was all too obvious in the $75,000 John J. Reilly Handicap on Sunday at Monmouth Park, drawing off at will to win the New Jersey-bred stakes by 6 1/4 lengths. The 3-year-old gelding has improved in each start this year for trainer Cal Lynch and may have run another career-best for his first stakes victory. “This was not unexpected,” Lynch said. “He has been consistently good his whole career. We gelded him last year and then gave him a break and trained him lightly through the winter, looking to pick a spot or two – which we did – and have him ready to go for this race fit and tight. He’s still developing.” Bet down to 1-9 near post time, Cairo Surprise played the part of heavy favorite to perfection, wasting little time in the six-furlong sprint. Despite taking on nine New Jersey-breds in the Reilly, he hardly took notice of them in a dominant front-running effort. He paid $2.20 to win. Breaking sharply under Paco Lopez, who won four races on the Sunday card, the gelding briefly dueled outside Speaking, the Reilly winner last year, through an opening quarter-mile in 22.49 seconds. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. But instead of waiting for his front-running rival to tire, Lopez simply urged his gelding forward, unleashing a devastating turn of foot on the backstretch. By the time Cairo Surprise ran through a half-mile in 45.53, he had already extended his lead to seven lengths on the far turn. Four weeks ago, Cairo Surprise ran the best race of his career in a statebred allowance at Monmouth, pulling clear to win by 9 1/4 lengths with a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. Based on the strength of his competition in the Reilly, which included four stakes winners, he may have run even better in another rout on Sunday. No one came close to approaching the commanding leader, who completed the six-furlong distance in 1:10.84. “I was impressed with his race today because coming in it looked like a pretty tough race,” Lopez said. “I know a lot of those horses he was running against. There were some good Jersey-breds in this race.” In four starts this year, the New Jersey-bred is unbeaten on dirt, and if not for a disqualification in a second-level allowance at Laurel Park in April, he would also have a victory on turf. Now a stakes winner, his options are wide open this summer. “We’ll stay in Jersey with him and race him at Monmouth,” Lynch said. “He’s eligible for a few of those Jersey-bred turf races, so we’ll see.” Boardwalk Jack, who stalked in his 4-year-old debut for Eddie Owens Jr., ran on for a distant second in his first stakes start. He finished 2 1/2 lengths clear of his stablemate Great Navigator, who steadily made up ground for third. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.