Clark (Grade 2)- $600.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 28, 2025
Earlier this month, General Zod ran in the BC Sprint and had not gone at least a mile since the end of June. He was second in the $300.000 Hanshin that day but had become inconsistent at the longer distances. In the Grade 2 Clark, General Zod would have no issue with nine furlongs as he grabbed the win. The colt by Wired Up was close to or on the lead throughout and earns the victory by almost a full length. He is trained by Royalty Stables and had F Geroux aboard. For each, it is their first win in the Clark. Congratulations to them! The winning race time was 1:47.40, which is among the better such times for the race and fastest since 2021. Let’s take a look at how it happened:
(½ Mile- :47.15)- Four of them break well out of the starting gate and will run alongside one another around the opening turn. Moving into the backstretch and hitting the half mile point, it is Diametric, from Mb Stables, holding a lead by a neck. Running second, right to his inside is our eventual winner from Royalty Stables, General Zod, while The Sidley Stud’s Never Hold Back is also running with them. Pincay, another Royalty Stables entry, was initially with them, too, on the outside but ultimately dropped back into a stalking position. There’s a gap of at least two to Black Swan Event, who’s looking to help trainer Team 7 Illusions sweep my three races this weekend. Inoue (Royalty Stables) is on his outside. Then, it’s a length to Suspect The Worst (Nakamura Stables), while Beyond Our Grasp (TwinTowersRacing) is at the back.
(3/4 Mile- 1:11.06)- General Zod is not going to wait around and will take over the lead before the run down the backstretch is completed. Early in the turn, he was nearly a fully length ahead of Diametric. Never Hold Back is third on the rail, and it’s a length from him to the fourth place Pincay. The second half of the field sees Black Swan Event narrowly ahead of Inoue, with Suspect The Worst next and Beyond Our Grasp still trailing.
(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- General Zod is strong in the turn and certainly looking very comfortable going a little longer than he had been recently. He enters the stretch now about a length and a half ahead of Diametric and Never Hold Back, as those two run evenly with one another. Pincay is still fourth, and is caught by Black Swan Event, who is beginning to push forward. Inoue had not yet begun his push, and still little was seen out of Suspect The Worst and Beyond Our Grasp.
(Finish- 1:47.40)- Into the stretch, General Zod would hold a comfortable lead and seemed to be in good shape as neither Diametric or Never Hold Back, the two that were closest to him, were making progress. Black Swan Event was gaining but had a lot of ground to make up and didn’t seem to be coming quickly enough. General Zod would have plenty left over to finish this off in strong finish, winning by essentially a length over Black Swan Event. Diametric was good enough for third, beating Inoue for that spot. The rest of the order will read Beyond Our Grasp, Never Hold Back, Suspect The Worst, and Pincay.
About The Winner- General Zod, trained by Royalty Stables and ridden to victory by F Geroux, is a four year old by Wired Up and is out of Toc Army Wide. He was bred by Tockyocky as a fourth quarter two-year-old and was acquired by Royalty Stables while he was still unraced almost two years to the day, for $300.000 in private sales. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in 20 starts and second stake win, each of which are graded. His career earnings are now $1,069.080.
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES