Bodemeister’s turf specialist O Dionysus changed tactics to win Saturday’s Japan Turf Cup S. at Laurel Park, taking the lead in the first three furlongs and then digging in gamely in the stretch to win the 1 1/2-mile contest by a neck in a four-horse photo.
The 5-year-old has now won four stakes and placed in seven other while racking up $438,574 in earnings.
O Dionysus came out of the gate very relaxed and was eighth going into the first of three turns, but quickly accelerated around that bend and made the lead the first time under the wire. Allowed to settle until the final stretch drive, he fought off several foes to claim the win.
“He relaxed good, and when I asked him he gave me everything he had. He never gets tired. He always tries,” rider Jevian Toledo said. “You can run him I think two miles; the main thing is, if he relaxes he can make any distance. When he relaxes in the beginning, he’s a really nice horse.”
O Dionysus races for Marathon Farms, Inc. and was bred by Dark Hollow Farm. He is one of Bodemeister’s 12 stakes horses in 2019. A leading Fourth-Crop Sire, his progeny have earned just over $15 million.
