by Phil Janack

Winless in three previous starts this year, California invader Black Seventeen outfinished Fabulous Strike to win the $400,000 Vosburgh Stakes (G1) by a head on Saturday at Belmont Park.

The longest shot in a field of seven at 23.80-to-1, Black Seventeen completed six furlongs in 1:09.77 on a sealed sloppy main track. Kodiak Kowboy rallied from the center of the track to finish third.

Fabulous Strike emerged with the lead after a four-way scramble out of the gate, setting the pace through spirited fractions of :21.75 and :44.31 through a half-mile with J Be K right alongside of him and Black Seventeen three wide.

Fabulous Strike put away J Be K entering the stretch but Black Seventeen was poised to challenge on his outside. The two horses battled stride for stride through the stretch before Black Seventeen, under the steady urging of jockey Clinton Potts, gained a short lead near the finish.

The Vosburgh was the fourth win in ten career starts for Black Seventeen, who is trained by Brian Koriner.

Owned by the partnership of Wind River Stables, Julie Berta, Janet Lyons, and Koriner, the four-year-old Is It True colt was shipped east this summer and finished fifth in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2) at Saratoga Race Course on July 26.

"That was a long way to come to be 23-to-1, but this horse has won on this kind of a racetrack," Koriner said. "We raced here instead of California today because they have a new synthetic surface and I didn’t want to have to guess what it would be like. There is a lot of quality speed in California, and when I saw my draw here, I was happy to be here even though I knew what the racetrack was like. We drew outside the speed and in the past he has run well on the outside.”

Fabulous Strike, the 2007 Vosburgh winner, made his second start of the year and was resolute before grudgingly giving way late as the second wagering choice. He had to be attended to by a blacksmith in the paddock prior to the race.

"He ripped his shoe off in the paddock and bent his shoe up," trainer Todd Beattie said. "He had to run with a shoe that was sprung on him the whole way."

Lucky Island (Arg), the 2.15-to-1 favorite, finished sixth of seven and suffered his second straight loss following a four-race win streak to start the year.

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent