Before the horses head into the starting gate for Saturday's $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Clapton is already ahead of everyone else.
The 4-year-old son of Brethren will be making his 25th career start in the 1 ¼-mile Classic. The 5-year-old Proxy is second in the start department with 19.
“He is a throwback horse, he is a dude,” trainer Chad Summers said. “Some of these horses run four times in their lives. He just wants to keep on going.”
And yes, before anyone asks, the colt was named for the famed English guitarist and singer-songwriter, Eric Clapton. The horse got the moniker from Brian Cohen, President of Arindel Farm in Ocala, which bred Clapton.
“I like one-word names,” Cohen said. “I'm a fan of (Eric) Clapton.”
And a fan of the horse, too.
Summers said he has not piped in Clapton's famous song “Layla” into Clapton the horse's stall. At least not yet.
“He's a pretty cool horse, laid back,” Summers said.
Clapton the horse has six career wins, four seconds and six thirds on his lengthy resume.
He has only been in Summers care for the last two starts, a win in the Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill Downs on Sept. 30 and a fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga on Sept. 2.
Clapton was purchased privately by Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Alnuami's RRR Racing of Dubai from Arindel this past summer. The goal for Clapton at the time of the sale were races next year in Dubai – the Al Maktoum Challenge (G1) on Jan. 26 and the Dubai World Cup (G1) on March 30.
That changed after Clapton showed up in the Lukas Classic and won it by a head at odds of 8-1.
Before the Lukas Classic, RRR Racing was lukewarm about the Breeders' Cup.
After his performance in Kentucky, a trip to California, indeed, was in order.
In seven starts this year, Clapton has two wins, a second and three thirds. Five of his starts have been in graded stakes races.
Nineteen of his first 20 starts came at Florida's Gulfstream.
Summers said that RRR Racing got interested in purchasing the horse after his consistent showings.
“We saw a horse that was on the improve,” Summers said. “It is very difficult to buy horses after they win races.”
In the first start for the new ownership, Clapton was a nose away from third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and then powered through to win the Lukas.
Now, here he is on the game's biggest stage. This will be the second horse Summers has brought to the Breeders' Cup. He trained Mind Your Biscuits to a third-place finish in the 2017 Twin Spires Breeders' Cup Sprint; they were 11th in the 2018 Classic.
Now he is here again and hoping for big things.
“He just tries, he always shows up,” Summers said.. “He is one of those blue collar horses; he always brings his lunch pail and always gives an honest effort.”
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