Cairo Prince got his newest stakes winner in thrilling fashion Saturday at Fair Grounds when Royal Prince bested Dyn O Mite by a nose in the $75,000 Black Gold S.
Run at “about” 1 1/16-miles on the turf, the outcome had to be decided by the placing judges after the 3-year-olds were side-by-side as they crossed under the wire. The duo had been tracking pacesetter Lookin for Loki until passing the furlong marker, setting the stage for the final dramatics. Dyn O Mite was up a length with a furlong to run, but Royal Prince would not be denied and secured the win with a last-minute surge.
“We got the dream trip, sit in the picket, and save all the ground,” winning rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. said. “Turning for home he got out and he was able to get his head down. He showed a lot of grit today. He got in front of that horse and he never let him back by him.”
The winner is owned by Steve Landers Racing LLC, who secured the gray/roan colt for $70,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling sale. Saturday’s win upped his record to 2-1-1 in five starts, with earnings of $101,910.
Royal Prince is out of the top-class producer Rose and Shine, also the dam of 2019 Champion 2-year-old Filly British Idiom and stakes winner Parade of Roses.
Cairo Prince has gotten off to an excellent start in 2021 and is currently second on the Fourth-Crop sire list by stakes winners, progeny earnings and winners.
