Month: July 2023

Godolphin Homebred Proxy Back to Winning Ways in Monmouth Cup

Sometimes Proxy (h, 5, Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include), the GI Clark H. winner, shows up and sometimes Proxy, the last-place finisher in the GI Stephen Foster S., makes an appearance. Saturday in Monmouth's $400,000 GIII Monmouth Cup S., it was the former, as the gutsy bay and 2-5 choice called on his class to uncharacteristically set the pace and turn back stiff challenges from Whelen Springs (Street Sense)–the only horse in the field with a recent win over the surface–and last-out GII Brooklyn S. runner-up Calibrate (Distorted Humor).

“He really showed some guts,” said winning trainer Michael Stidham. “He's never been on the lead in his life. He's laid close early on in his career so we knew he could be close and still finish. But he was never on the lead so I didn't know what to think. I was hoping for the best, and then when they hooked him at the three-sixteenths pole, I thought, `Oh boy, here we go.' Then he dug in and class came through in the end.”

Proxy, who has been running with cheek pieces for his last couple of starts, took some bumping out of the gate, but shrugged them all off to emerge from the fray on top. After a first quarter in :23.80 and a half in :48.13, Calibrate tackled him from the outside while Wheelin Springs jumped in around the turn. With the trio heads apart coming into the stretch and well clear of the rest, Joel Rosario encouraged the winner with a couple of right-handed taps and he quickly put daylight on the interlopers to cross the wire 2 1/2 lengths the best. The final time for the nine furlongs was 1:49.99.

“I think it was just a case of too much class,” said Rosario. “He was the best horse in the race. He broke well and I just kind of let him go and do his thing. He's a little tricky sometimes to ride. You have to let him do the work. I know he always tries. He never gives up. He just does what he does. I was on the best horse and I rode him that way. They put some pressure on us but I was never worried. He has so much class. I just let him show the way.”

The Monmouth Cup was Proxy's third win at the distance. After knocking at the door with five graded placings from 2021-22, he finally broke through last November, getting his first graded score in a big way with a 101 Beyer Speed Figure and a visit to the winner's circle in the aforementioned Clark at Churchill Downs. He kicked off 2023 by missing the superfecta in the GI Pegasus World Cup, rebounded with a game second by just a neck to Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) in the GI Santa Anita H. prior to a GII Oaklawn H. win, then threw in the towel last out in the July 1 Stephen Foster.

Pedigree Notes:

Gainesway's remarkable Tapit, an annual fixture on the leading sires list, is the sire of Proxy and exactly 100 other graded winners bred in the Northern Hemisphere. His 159 black-type winners include the likes of Horse of Year Flightline, a number of champions including Godolphin's Essential Quality, and four GI Belmont S. winners. Both Proxy and MGSW Pink Sands are by Tapit and out of Include mares. Airdrie's late Include, a son of Broad Brush who passed away last summer due to complications from a heart condition, has 29 stakes winners out of his daughters.

Godolphin bred Proxy out of 2007 GI Juddmonte Spinster S. and GI American Oaks winner Panty Raid after John Ferguson purchased her for $2.5 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November sale. The full-sister to GSW and 2011 GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up St. John's River has also produced GSW & GISP Micheline (Bernardini) and has an unraced 2-year-old gelding named Out in Force (Frosted). Her most recent offspring is a yearling filly by Into Mischief.

Saturday, Monmouth Park
MONMOUTH CUP S.-GIII, $400,000, Monmouth, 7-22,
3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:49.99, ft.
1–PROXY, 124, h, 5, by Tapit
               1st Dam: Panty Raid (MGISW, $1,052,380), by Include
               2nd Dam: Adventurous Di, by Private Account
               3rd Dam: Tamaral, by Seattle Slew
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham; J-Joel Rosario.
$240,000. Lifetime Record: GISW, 18-6-6-2, $2,024,970. *1/2
to Micheline (Bernardini), GSW & GISP, $695,103. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com
catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Whelen Springs, 118, c, 4, Street Sense–Holy Nova, by Pure
Prize. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Shortleaf Stable (AR);
T-Lindsay Schultz. $80,000.
3–Calibrate, 122, g, 5, Distorted Humor–Glamour and Style, by
Dynaformer. ($340,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Josh Engel, Rick
Engel, Greg Armatys and Chelsey Badura; B-Don Alberto
Corporation (KY); T-Jamie Ness. $40,000.
Margins: 2HF, 4 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 0.40, 6.90, 4.00.
Also Ran: Antigravity, Fowler Blue, Forewarned, Higher Quality.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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D’Amato Riding Wave Of Consecutive Training Titles At Del Mar

A lot goes into being a successful Thoroughbred trainer. You have to be good with the horses. You have to know how to handle the different owners and the media. You must be good at organizing the dozens of employees needed to keep the operation running smoothly and you have to juggle it all with your personal life.

Philip D'Amato appears to have found the right formula, right down to getting his son to golf lessons on time. The 47-year-old Southern California native comes to Del Mar looking to notch his fourth consecutive trainers title having won it last fall, sharing it with Bob Baffert last summer and winning it outright in the fall of 2021.

On top of that, he won both training titles at Santa Anita this past winter and spring and he's brought the same quality band of horses down to Del Mar this summer.

“With Del Mar, the money's great and turf racing is at a premium here,” D'Amato says. “We always try to do our best here. You can tell by the deep fields it's not going to be easy but we're going to come out firing.”

He promptly notched his first stakes race by winning the initial stakes of the meet, Friday's $100,000 Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside Stakes with Conclude.

While D'Amato is not exclusively a grass trainer, he brings a string of impressive turf runners to the table. He's won 11 graded stakes races so far this year, nine were on the grass and one was taken off-the-turf. The list of his winners is a who's who of the turf division: Gold Phoenix, Macadamia, Count Again, Earls Rock, and Hong Kong Harry. In the past he's saddled the likes of Going to Vegas, Going Global, Leggs Galore, Midnight Storm, Bowies Hero and Obviously.

He's done an excellent job of finding the right spots for all of his stars with minimum crossover. All the more impressive when you consider there's no turf training at Santa Anita or anywhere in Southern California from the time the horses leave Del Mar in the fall until they come back in July.

“I think we're all on a level playing field,” D'Amato says in regards to having no turf training up at Santa Anita. “I think it helps horses to breeze them on the grass but there are some horses where it doesn't make a difference. You just have to know which ones.”

D'Amato had his best year ever, in terms of earnings, in 2022. His horses compiled winnings of $11,954,300, eighth best among trainers in the nation. He tallied 125 victories, 23 of those graded stakes, and his horses finished in the money 57% of the time. Many of those were Irish-breds. In fact all six of his graded stakes winners at Del Mar last year were from Ireland. D'Amato believes he has a good mix again this year.

“I think I've got plenty of good Irish-breds as well as Kentucky-breds and Cal-breds,” D'Amato says. “We've got a nice balanced stable at Del Mar.”

D'Amato has been running horses at Del Mar since 2012 and he wouldn't be anywhere else come summertime.

“Definitely the change and the weather,” D'Amato says, “and the surroundings, you can't beat it. The nice beach setting with the cool breezes and the nice lush turf course. A lot of pluses.”

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‘Never Been On The Lead In His Life’: Proxy Makes All To Win Monmouth Cup

Godolphin's homebred Proxy make all the pace, determinedly shook off challenges from Whelan Springs and Calibrate, and powered to victory in the $400,000 Monmouth Cup (G3) Saturday at Monmouth Park.

The 5-year-old Tapit horse, the 1-5 favorite, was scoring for the sixth time in 18 career outings while rebounding from an unplaced finish in the Stephen Foster (G1) earlier this month at Ellis Park.  The Monmouth Cup standout, he took the  Clark (G1) at Churchill Downs last November, was second in the  Santa Anita Handicap (G1) in March, then took Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 22 and before finishing eighth in the Stephen Foster July 1. He would not be denied Saturday, showing his class for Joel Rosario to get the victory after making all the pace in a race for the first time in his career..

Proxy returned $2.8o after covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.99. He set early fractions of :23.80, :48,13, 1:12.05 and 1:37.37 before cruising across the finish line 2 1/2 lengths in front of Whelen Springs. Calibrate finished third, another 4  3/4 lengths back.

Trained by Mike Stidham, Proxy earned the $240,000 winner's share of the Monmouth Cup purse, boosting his lifetime bankroll to $2,024,970.

Kentucky-bred Proxy is out of Grade 1 winner Panty Raid, by Include.

Monmouth Cup Quotes:

WINNING TRAINER – Michael Stidham: “He really showed some guts. He's never been on the lead in his life. He's laid close early on in his career so we knew he could be close and still finish. But he was never on the lead so I didn't know what to think. I was hoping for the best, and then when they hooked him at the three-sixteenths pole, I thought, `Oh Boy. here we go.' Then he dug in and class came through in the end.

“That was very gratifying because his last race (in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Ellis Park), with Ellis being speed favoring and getting shuffled back around the first turn he had no chance. We just felt like we're not going to sit around and wait 60 days and plan to hopefully run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Grade 1 at Saratoga) but that was another 60-day break. He had already had one of those. He ran big today.”

WINNING JOCKEY – Joel Rosario: “I think it was just a case of too much class. He was the best horse in the race. He broke well and I just kind of let him go and do his thing. He's a little tricky sometimes to ride. You have to let him do the work. I know he always tries. He never gives up. He just does what he does. I was on the best horse and I rode him that way. They put some pressure on us but I was never worried. He has so much class. I just let him show the way.”

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