Mobil Sky emerges from heavy rain as Loyalty Stakes winner
Mobil Sky, lightly dismissed despite coming into the race as one of only two horses with a victory, overcame a heavy downpour and a jockey’s objection to win Saturday’s $75,000 Loyalty Stakes at Belterra Park in Cincinnati.
The six-furlong stakes was restricted to Ohio-accredited 2-year-olds, meaning each horse had to be foaled in Ohio and sired by a stallion standing in the state.
Although the track was listed as fast, the race was contested during heavy rain and strong winds with visibility so poor the chart-caller could not identify the running positions until the horses reached the eighth pole.
Mobil Sky ($24.40), an easy winner in his career at debut at Thistledown and a distant sixth after stumbling at the start of the Cleveland Kindergarten, was lugging in badly during the stretch run, but finished 2 3/4 lengths clear of first-time starter Show Sliding Home, the 5-2 favorite. Bubba J was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third.
Irwin Rosendo, the rider of Show Sliding Home, claimed foul for interference in the stretch, but the stewards disallowed the objection.
A son of Mobil trained by Jeff Radosevich and ridden by Jacob Radosevich, Mobil Sky, struggling against the fierce wind, needed nearly 30 seconds to complete the final quarter-mile, finishing six furlongs in 1:15.11 after early fractions of 21.79 and 45.29 seconds.
As the result of the poor weather conditions, Belterra cancelled the eighth race on the program.