Eye of the Sphynx guts out Selene win

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In a very gutsy performance, heavily favored Eye of the Sphynx edged by Silver Bird in the final strides to capture Sunday's $275,000 Selene Stakes, a Grade 2 event for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

Eye of the Sphynx stalked front-running Ontheqt in the mile and a sixteenth event, as the latter set fractions of :22.97 and :47.82 over a sloppy track.

Eye of the Sphynx hit the front midway on the far turn, and was joined at the top of the stretch by Silver Bird, who took a slim lead inside the eighth pole. Eye of the Sphynx, however, fought back in deep stretch to prevail by a neck, in a final time of 1:48.28.

Sweet Problem finished a distant third in the six-horse field, from which My Vintage Port was scratched.

"The track was heavy, and she didn't handle it as well as she did the last off track I rode her over," said winning rider Todd Kabel. "She fought back hard, and wanted to win the race."

Eye of the Sphynx ($2.50) earned $165,000 for Sam-Son Farm and trainer Mark Frostad. She is unbeaten in three starts, all over wet tracks.