Cyberknife Gets His Lizzo On Edging Baffert' Trained Taiba At Monmouth
Cont'd From Front Page
Monmouth Park Racetrack
July 23, 2022 Ybsports Column
It’s a thin line between love and hate, and there’s also a thin line between winning and losing, but the line between stability and instability in sports is often the difference between winning and losing! On Saturday evening at Monmouth Park Racetrack, Cyberknife and Taiba both kept stability as a strategy for over a mile as they circled around Monmouth’s well conditioned dirt track, playing out their strategies for most of the race. The duel between Cyberknife and Taiba materialized about a hundred yards from the finish line after Jockey Florent Geroux noticed a crack just past the fourth turn along the rail to slip into a tie with Taiba and Jack Christopher who looked as if he was ready to take off and go for the gold until Geroux’s move. The subtle pivot by Geroux left three horses at the front coming down the stretch, but when Jack Christopher began to fade, the Bob Baffert trained Taiba set sail with Cyberknife fast in tow.
Lost in all of this lead changing was the fact that super long shot Benevengo at 50-1 odds, was leading at one point and appeared headed for a possible top three finish. But Cyberknife and Taiba would have none of that as the duel between the two began to take shape down the front stretch, as the two combatants were never more than a half a horse length away from the other heading to the wire. With a few steps from the finish line Taiba made one last lunge to pull even with eventual winner Cyberknife who had forged ahead of him, but the forward momentum was in Jockey Florent Geroux’s favor as Geroux snatched the one million dollar purse from the favorite. Of all the things that brings us to big time sporting events, it’s the energy of wanting to be a part of something special, something that very few will be able to partake in, and quite often that is the biggest motivator..
But the strongest attraction for the fans on this day was that they got to cheer on a local product, and the locals got their wish when Cyberknife owner and New Jersey resident Al Gold got to hoist the trophy in the winner’s circle. Cyberknife’s Trainer Brian Cox, said at the post race interview that Cyberknife was a favorite with the group from the very beginning, and in the end the chestnut put everyone on his back as he punched his ticket for The Breeder’s Cup Classic in November at Keeneland Racetrack. In taking the win, Cyberknife broke a track record with a finishing time of 1:46:24. The irony of the record breaking run is that the record was set earlier that afternoon during the running of the Molly Pitcher.
ybsports staff images
Cyberknife gets an escort back to his stall after winning the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth.
The winner takes the lonely walk down the long path back to the saddling area.
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