Proxy with Joel Rosario up flies to the finish in the Grade III Monmouth Cup. (Nikki Sherman/EQUI-PHOTO)
Breeders’ Cup Notes
Veteran conditioner Mike Stidham looks to add another iconic international race to his resume when he saddles Godolphin’s Grade 1 winner PROXY in Saturday’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Six days out, all signals from the team surrounding the blue-blooded 5-year-old appear to be positive and Stidham was very pleased with how the son of Tapit and Grade 1 winner Panty Raid exited his Saturday breeze.
“He looked great this morning and is all set to ship tomorrow,” Stidham said. “The breeze went great. Proxy is one of those horses who only does what he’s made to do. He’s not a real overly willing horse in the mornings and early in his races. Anytime he’s shown us enthusiasm, that’s always a good sign.”
It was only two seasons ago that the six-time Grade 1-winning trainer and Godolphin teamed up with another homebred, Mystic Guide, to land the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1). Stidham remarked that such an experience with that level of pressure has made going into this year’s Classic that much more comfortable and exciting.
“Like I said in the postrace interview in Dubai, I finally had my chance to step up on the big stage and we got it done,” he explained. “You get a similar feel to coming into a race like this because, in your whole career, you dream of being in races like these and then to actually win one is a dream come true. I think we bring a legitimate contender into the race.”
A six-time winner from 19 starts, Proxy’s top-level score came in the Clark (G1) last November at Churchill Downs, defeating subsequent Grade 1 winner West Will Power on the square. A disappointing fifth in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) followed, just prior to an attempt over the Classic’s course and distance in March’s Santa Anita Handicap (G1), losing by a neck after a desperate late rally. He has won twice this season, taking the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and Monmouth Cup (G3), with the former providing some of his career-best speed figures (by all metrics) and enters the Classic off a heart-breaking nose loss in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).
“The biggest thing we worry about is when he gets trapped down on the inside and is getting a lot of kickback, he tends to get disinterested in running into that, so we are conscious of that in a big field and are hoping he doesn’t get buried down on the inside and put himself in a position that takes his chances away,” Stidham explained. “That happened in the Pegasus and Stephen Foster, where he took himself out of it too far and had no chance.
“He has in his career shown that he can run the number like a 5 Ragozin that should be good enough to get this done,” he continued. “I feel like he’s kind of been teetering a little above those numbers recently from 7-to-9, so I’m hoping that that top number is still sitting out for us to get back to next Saturday. He’s shown he can do it, so now it’s just a matter of getting it done on the right day and it helps that there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind is a mile and a quarter is only a bonus for us — he loves it.”
