Trainer Michael Stidham added to his remarkable Oaklawn record when Proxy captured the $1-million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 22.
Proxy, a homebred for famed Godolphin LLC, represented the 21st career Oaklawn victory for Stidham. Nearly 40 percent (eight) have come in stakes company.
“I like that stat,” Stidham said moments after Proxy's victory under Joel Rosario.
Proxy ($9.40) received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 103 for his head victory over Last Samurai, with Stilleto Boy a nose farther back to Stilleto Boy in third.
Stilleto Boy had beaten Proxy a neck in their previous meeting, the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) March 4 at Santa Anita. Proxy raced in cheek pieces, or vertical shadow roll, for the first time in the Oaklawn Handicap. Stidham said the hope was cheek pieces, which the trainer has used in the past, would keep Proxy's vision “more focused in front” and the horse a “little more interested” early in the race.
“Hey, who knows?” Stidham said, when asked if cheek pieces made a difference in the Oaklawn Handicap. “As trainers, we're always trying to get that little bit extra that we need. It's a trial and error thing. We had tried blinkers on him as a 3-year-old. Didn't really feel like that made a big difference. But when we started working him in the cheek pieces, normally he can be kind of sluggish in his works, but with the cheek pieces he's been very forward in all his works.”
Stidham said he began “experimenting” with the equipment shortly after the Santa Anita Handicap.
The Oaklawn Handicap moved Proxy's record to 5-6-2 from 16 lifetime starts and increased his earnings to $1,775,970. Proxy is a 5-year-old son of super sire Tapit out of millionaire multiple Grade 1 winner Panty Raid. Proxy scored his biggest career victory to date in the Clark Stakes (G1) Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs.
“We'll be looking at races like the Stephen Foster at Churchill and then Saratoga,” Stidham said. “But our goal is to try and be around at the end of the year for the Breeders' Cup.”
The $1-million Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) for older horses is July 1 at Churchill Downs, a 1 1/8-mile race that could feature a rematch between the top three finishers in the Oaklawn Handicap.
D. Wayne Lukas, Last Samurai's Hall of Fame trainer, said following the Oaklawn Handicap that “We'll probably look at the Stephen Foster next.” Stilleto Boy's trainer, Ed Moger Jr., said before the Oaklawn Handicap that if all went well, he was “thinking” the Stephen Foster. Proxy ran third in last year's Stephen Foster.
Stidham's seventh career Oaklawn stakes victory came in 2021 with Mystic Guide in the Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses. Another Godolphin homebred, Mystic Guide, won the Dubai World Cup (G1) in his next start.
Stidham's first career Oaklawn victory came in 1994 with Two Altazano in the Fantasy Stakes (G2) for 3-year-old fillies. Stidham also won the 1999 Razorback with Desert Air and four Oaklawn stakes with top Arkansas-bred sprinter Comedero.
The post Proxy Adds To Stidham’s Oaklawn Stakes Totals, Could Start Next In Stephen Foster appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
