In racing some plans come together, and many others don’t.

Gary Capuano’s plan for Onyx Ten was one that did.

Three-year-old Onyx Ten missed several months of action over the summer before returning to action with a win at Delaware Park Sept. 14. That led to today’s Maryland Million Distaff.

“The first target was the Delaware race. We were hoping to get her ready for that because she was training so good,” the veteran trainer said. “If she ran well there, this was the next step. The timing was right. Everything worked out just right, which doesn’t always happen with these horses.”

Under yet another good ride from apprentice rider Yedsit Hazlewood – the Distaff was his third win in the day’s first seven races – Onyx Ten rallied from seventh, tipped three wide in the stretch, and surged to win by 1 ¾ lengths in 1:24.34 for seven furlongs on a fast main track.

“You know me and the bug [apprentice rider],” Capuano said. “I love the bug. I ride the bug all the time. He really is a good rider, and he’s coming around and getting better and better. He’s got a bright future, so I have confidence in him, and that’s what I need.”

Green Eyed Monster, who led throughout under Xavier Perez, held second. Foxy Junior, the defending champion and 4-5 post time favorite, loomed a threat in the stretch but had to settle for third.

It was Onyx Ten’s third stakes win and fifth win overall from 13 career starts and pushed her career bankroll to nearly $310,000.

Onyx Ten paid $15.20 to win as the third choice, and with, 7-1 Green Eyed Monster second, topped an exacta that returned $74.10 for a one-dollar wager.

Onyx Ten debuted in July of her freshman season, winning a waiver maiden claimer at second asking before scuffling a bit through the remainder of the season. In last fall’s Maryland Million Lassie, she finished a well-beaten fifth behind Shkhara Fire.

But as the calendar turned to 2025, Onyx Ten turned a corner. She won the Xtra Heat Stakes by almost two lengths and followed that up with a length win in the seven-furlong Wide Country, both at Laurel Park. But she then ran a well-beaten fifth in the one-mile Beyond the Wire.

“When I ran her in the mile race, she was kind of tailing off,” Capuano remembered. “We kicked her out, gave her the summer off, brought her back, and she’s been training great.”

She arrived at the Delaware race, a $95,000 Delaware certified showcase event, with several recent bullet works under her belt. And with Hazlewood up, she was up close throughout before taking over to win by 1 ½ lengths.

That put her on a perfect trajectory for the Distaff.

“They’re great people, [owner-breeder] Frank Sample and his wife, just super people,” Capuano said. “They’ve been supporting us for a long time, and they bred this filly and went through a lot when she was a baby – just one thing after another – and now it’s all paid off.”

Earlier on the card, the Capuano-trained Doc’s Miracle fell just a neck short of an upset against favored Slewperstitus in the Lassie, for two-year-old fillies.

“It never gets old [winning Maryland Million races],” said Capuano, who entered the day with five Million wins. “I just got beat a tough one earlier in the day by a good horse. My horse ran her eyes out and just got beat, and then this horse comes back. We’ve got three more. We got two in the baby race, and then one in the last. We’ll see if we can’t keep knocking at the door anyway.”