Cyclops, a three-year-old pacing colt by Dontgetinmyway out of the mare Nuke Warm, earned his name honestly. He only has one eye, but that hasn’t stopped the colt from doing his job.
Cyclops lost his eye when he was only two weeks old. The colt and his mother got turned out to play for a few hours and when they went to bring him in the accident had already happened.
Cyclops is owned by his breeder, Jerry Zosel of Columbus, Ohio, and is trained by Ohio native Jim Dailey.
The colt made eight starts at two and recorded a pair of wins. He took his freshman mark of 1:56.2 over Scioto Downs and banked $5,085 in purses during his juvenile campaign.
His three-year-old season has started well, with a win, a third-place finish and a fifth-place cheque. He lowered his mark to 1:55.1 with his April 17 victory.
Speaking about working with Cyclops in the earlier stages, Zosel said that his charge was good to break, but, just like any baby, he had good days and bad days. “As he got older he never got over the good days and bad days,” Zosel stated, although explaining that “he [knew] his job” and that he was consistent.
His caretaker, Stacy, said that Cyclops’ “worst habit is going in and out of his stall,” but that “he’s a sweetheart to take care of, besides that.”
Cyclops came into Scioto on Thursday (May 15) off a seventh-place finish at Hoosier Park in which he had started from Post 9. Dailey said that Cyclops doesn’t like to come from that far off the pace.
Cyclops was in the Scioto’s eighth race on Thursday and started from Post 5 with driver Greg Grismore – he didn’t disappoint his connections.
Grismore gave Cyclops a perfect pocket trip and waited for the stretch to get up in time. He stopped the timer in 1:56.4 and paced his last quarter in :28.3.
Racing continues Friday (May 16) and Saturday (May 17) at Scioto with a 6:30 p.m. first-race post time.
Saturday is Preakness Day, and Scioto’s 13 race live card will feature the $50,000 Laverne Hill Memorial Pace for Open mares.
Be sure to get to the track early on Saturday to meet and greet with Scioto’s leading trainers. Trainers Virgil Morgan Jr., Scott Mogan and James Arledge Jr. will be available for autographs, pictures and questions until 6:15 p.m.
(Scioto)