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| Staff Writer |
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Proxy, the Group One winner bred by Godolphin, completed his last significant training session on 22nd October at Keeneland. This workout was in preparation for his anticipated entry into the US$6 million Breeders' Cup Classic Gr.1 race, which is scheduled to take place on 4th November at Santa Anita Park. The 5YO horse, who is the offspring of Tapit, breezed through 5 furlongs in 1:02 on a fast track, with Joel Rosario, his regular jockey, in the saddle.
The original plan was for Godolphin's unraced 2YO colt Surveyor to go in company with others, but they were unexpectedly joined by workers from other trainers. Despite the surprise, trainer Mike Stidham, Godolphin's chief operating officer Dan Pride, and director of bloodstock Michael Banahan were all smiles as they watched from the Grandstand.
"The main thing we were looking for today was that we would let him break off a little bit behind," Stidham said. "The other horses getting in there was not planned. That just happened. It turned out to be four horses working together. And when Joel took him out—and got him out in the clear—that's what we wanted to see. He needed that type of work; that was the most important work."
According to Stidham, Proxy's workout will be reduced on either October 28 or 29, and the horse will be sent to Santa Anita on October 30. Pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup World Championships are set to be announced on 25th October, with post positions being drawn on 30th October.
"Next week will be less of a blowout for the Breeders' Cup," Stidham said about Proxy's next assignment. "Today's work was exactly what we were looking for. He handled it well and galloped out great and did everything right. We couldn't be happier."
"When he was a 3YO, we had experimented with the blinkers, but we didn't think that they made a huge difference," Stidham said. "We've used the cheekpieces on a few horses over the years, and they're just a bit more of a subtle change than actual blinker cups. They just take away the rear view, and they allow the horse to still have the peripheral view. We tried them in the morning; we thought that maybe they could help him to focus a little bit. And then we used them in the race and obviously, he's been running well with them, so we're not going to try anything new."
Proxy has had a successful racing season this year, with two wins out of six starts. In April, he took the Oaklawn Handicap Gr.2 and in July, he won the Monmouth Cup Gr.3. During his most recent race, he finished just a nose behind Classic candidate Bright Future in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Gr.1 on 2nd Sep at Saratoga.
Proxy has earned US$2.2 million with a record of 6-7-2 from 19 starts. He is set to retire in 2024 and begin his stallion career at Godolphin's Darley America at Jonabell Farm in Lexington. On the other hand, Peter Brant's horse, Gina Romantica, who won the 7th Oct First Lady worked a half-mile in :50 in the company of Lady De Berry over the fast main track for trainer Chad Brown.
"She worked good," said Baldo Hernandez, assistant to Brown who noted that Gina Romantica has had most of her workouts on dirt during her career. "She'll work again next weekend and may work on the grass with In Italian (GB). That's to be determined."
Gina Romantica and In Italian are set to ship to Santa Anita on October 30th for the Breeders' Cup, with pre-entries for the 3td and 4th November World Championships closing on October 23rd at 3 p.m. ET.
Additionally, trainer Wesley Ward's Nakatomi is working towards a possible start in the US$2 million Qatar Racing Sprint (Gr.1) after coming in second in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (Gr.2) on October 6th. Nakatomi recently breezed 5 furlongs in 1:00.60, the fastest of 32 at that distance for the morning.