Corningstone turns up the heat in Fireball Baby Overnight Handicap

Corningstone and Joseph Bealmear proved to be the best in the field of 10 for the first running of the $55,000 Fireball Baby Overnight Handicap Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The standout mare pushed her career earnings to more than $900,000 with the win as Indiana’s all-time leading female performer.

Corningstone had a good break from the gate in post six but opted to just lay off the early pace as Beach Dancer and Mitchell Murrill moved out to lead the way followed by Si Certo and Evin Roman on the outside of Temple Paynter and Joe Ramos. The field was strung out down the backstretch and Fireball Baby was near the back of the pack running comfortably between horses.

At the half, Corningstone was next to last and had a lot of ground to make up. However, it was a task for which she was ready. Heading into the final turn of the one and one-sixteenth mile race, Bealmear asked the mare to accelerate, and she responded with a big kick.

She split horses in the final turn as she gained ground on the leaders. At the top of the stretch, Bealmear moved her to the outside and once she was clear, she turned up the heat on her opponents, opening up to a two and one-half length advantage at the wire.

Louder than Words and Marcelino Pedroza Jr. also closed in to finish second over Itzforever and Santo Sanjur for third.

Corningstone paid $3.00 as the heavy favorite in the Fireball Baby Overnight Handicap. She is owned by Payson Stud and RTA Trust. Ken McPeek trains the six-year-old daughter of Kantharos, who won her 10^th career start from 28 starts lifetime.

The multiple Graded Stakes placed mare joins Bucchero, also by Kantharos, and Strong Tide as the only Indiana bred horses to ever surpass $900,000 in earnings. It was her second straight win at Horseshoe Indianapolis and a nice win in the race named after another standout Indiana mare.

“Fireball Baby is such a special horse to me,” said Claire Rigney, the daughter of Richard and Tammy Rigney who own her. “She is the reason I love horses, and I have been riding horses for so long. And to see a race named after her is so awesome.”

Claire joined her father, Richard, in the winner’s circle to present the trophy to the connections of Corningstone. It is the first running of the race named for their standout mare, who retired with nearly $600,000 in earnings and seven career premier wins at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

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