First Foals for Millionaire Sleepy Eyes Todd

MGSW Sleepy Eyes Todd (Paddy O'Prado) was represented by his first two foals on the same day-a filly and a colt-at Francisco Bravo's River Oaks Farms in Sulphur, OK, on Jan. 29.

The filly is the first foal out of three-time winner Maddie's Music (Maclean's Music) and the colt is out of Taylor Lake (Parading), who also produced the SW Barrister Tom (Artie Schiller). Both mares are owned by David Cobb, who campaigned Sleepy Eyes Todd in the name of his Thumbs Up Racing Stable.

“We knew we'd get some beautiful babies by Sleepy Eyes,” Cobb said. “But we are amazed at how beautiful his babies are. We can't wait to see the rest of them.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd, who was a $9,000 KEENOV weanling in 2016, won the 2020 GII Charles Town Classic and GIII Mr. Prospector S. and won or placed in five other black-type events and logged a record of 20-8-3-1, $2,051,725. He stands at Swifty Farms in Seymour, IN, for a fee of $3,500.

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Sleepy Eyes Todd to Stand in Indiana

Thumbs Up Racing, LLC's Sleepy Eyes Todd (Paddy O'Prado–Pledge Mom, by Wild Rush), winner of the 2020 GII Charles Town Classic S. and GIII Mr. Prospector S., has been retired and will stand the 2022 breeding season at Swifty Farms in Indiana. The 5-year-old, second in his Charles Town Classic title defense in late August, retires with a record of 20-8-3-1 and earnings of $2,051,725.

“[Indiana] is the perfect place for us, and I'm excited to get going with Sleepy's stallion career,” owner David Cobb of Thumbs Up Racing said.

“I could have taken him to a number of places, but I really do believe that regional breeding programs are the best game in town, and Indiana has a very strong program. I spoke with a number of Indiana connections, including Christine Cagle of Springcliff Farm and Jerri Harmon, Swifty's new stallion manager, and it just felt right to bring him to Indiana.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd will stand the 2022 breeding season for $3,500 (stands and nurses).

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Grade 2 Winner Sleepy Eyes Todd Retired To Swifty Farms In Indiana For 2022

Thumbs Up Racing, LLC, and Indiana stallion farm Swifty Farms are excited to introduce Sleepy Eyes Todd to breeders in the Midwest and Kentucky for the 2022 breeding season.

After racing at nine different racetracks, 10 different states and two different countries, the 5-year-old son of Paddy O'Prado is ready to set down some roots. The $2 million-earning stallion arrived at the Seymour, Ind., farm over the weekend and already has his owner, David Cobb, revved up for the prospects of his new chapter.

“(Indiana) is the perfect place for us, and I'm excited to get going with Sleepy's stallion career,” says Cobb.

Lightly raced, the stallion retired sound and healthy. Cobb notes that after battling through some tough races, including the Saudi Cup, where the big gray had to overcome trouble at the start and a big crowd to finish a fighting fourth, it was time to look at a cushier life as an exciting new stallion for Indiana.

“I could have taken him to a number of places, but I really do believe that regional breeding programs are the best game in town, and Indiana has a very strong program,” says Cobb. “I spoke with a number of Indiana connections, including Christine Cagle of Springcliff Farm and Jerri Harmon, Swifty's new stallion manager, and it just felt right to bring him to Indiana.”

Both Cobb and Sleepy Eyes Todd's longtime trainer, Miguel Silva, plans to breed their mares to the gray stallion to take advantage of the Indiana-sired program.

“The biggest benefit to Indiana is the close proximity to Kentucky,” Cobb said. “And I believe that Kentucky breeders are looking for better bargains.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd finished his career with 20 starts, eight wins, three seconds and one third, and earnings totaling more than $2,051,000. Bred by Two Hearts Farm LLC and Kristen Goncharoff, he won the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park. He followed up his win in the G2 Charles Town Classic Stakes with a win in the Lafayette Stakes, presented by Keeneland Select. He finished fourth in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, fifth in the Saudi Cup and a game tenth in the Dubai World Cup earlier this year.

“Sleepy has definitely shown that he is game enough to race on any track, any continent and any distance,” Cobb said. “That's what I'm hoping Indiana breeders are looking for.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd will stand the 2022 breeding season for $3,500 (stands and nurses).

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Cobb Gives Thumbs Up To Ascension Of Sleepy Eyes Todd Into Major Races

A racing fan since his youth and after seven years as a Thoroughbred owner, David Cobb has a firm grasp of the significance of having Sleepy Eyes Todd in the field for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Sleepy Eyes Todd is a quintessential blue-collar hero. He was purchased for $9,000 as a weanling in 2016, has won eight of 15 races with trainer Miguel Silva and earned $744,825. The two-time graded stakes winner has competed at 11 tracks in nine states for Cobb's fledgling Thumbs Up Racing operation. Though success has made his post-time odds much lower these days, he won his debut at Remington Park in Oklahoma in 2018 at 29-1 and was second in the 2019 Oklahoma Derby (G3) at 40-1.

“He's never had the respect, but I'll tell you something: We relish being the underdogs,” Cobb said. “We've been there the whole time. Miguel has been an underdog his whole life. I'm a small guy with all the big guys. I've got to tell you that it's very rewarding to finally be recognized and to be invited to such a prestigious event as the Pegasus.”

A half-length victory in the Mr. Prospector (G3) at Gulfstream on Dec. 19 was the final stepping stone to the grand stage.

The Cobbs live in Pleasanton, Calif., and are building a home in Crescent, Texas, near Houston so they can be closer to the home base of their racing and breeding business. Cobb, 59, said he made his first visit to a racetrack, the now-closed Bay Meadows in his hometown of San Mateo, Calif., as a 4-year-old with his great-grandmother, grandparents and mother.

“Back then, in the mid-'60s, there were crowds of 10,000 people,” he said. “I was a little kid and had never seen anything like it, except at Disneyland. Pretty neat stuff.”

A few years later, Cobb's uncle began teaching him about handicapping and took him with along to Bay Meadows. The hook had been set.

“By the time I was nine or 10 years old, I could read a Racing Form as well as anybody could,” Cobb said. “I'm kind of a numbers guy and it was always fascinating to me.”

Cobb is now retired from a career in which he was a truck driver, business owner and real estate investor.

Cobb stepped into horse racing ownership in 2014 in some small partnerships and in 2015 claimed the Cal-bred Spot Special for $12,500. He ran in his own name for five seasons, but renamed his growing operation Thumbs Up Racing last year. With Sleepy Eyes Todd leading the way, Cobb had his best year in racing with 13 wins and $688,215 in earnings.

In November 2016, with trainer Jonathan Wong as his advisor and agent and some friends with a lot of experience with horses, Cobb purchased a total of six moderately priced horses at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

That Cobb sextet included the young son of Paddy O'Prado, who Cobb later named Sleepy Eyes Todd. A bargain-basement purchase, he has become the first graded stakes winner for Silva and Cobb and could become their first millionaire.

“I study breeding, but there are things I cannot do, that real horsemen can see,” Cobb said. “It was a team effort.”

Two years later, Sleepy Eyes Todd was ready for his racing debut in a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight race at Remington Park. Cobb said he will never forget that experience.

“Miguel is telling me, 'Hey, you really have something here,'” Cobb said. “We were standing out there watching the race around the finish line. The horses break from the gate and at the four-furlong mark he's probably nine and a half lengths behind. I go, 'Miguel, are you serious?' He goes, 'Relax.' I don't relax that easily and said 'OK.' Sure as could be, he blew by everybody and won the race by a half-length. He could have won by five if they went another six strides. Just an amazing horse.”

After a brief try to see if he might be good enough to compete on the Triple Crown trail, Cobb and Silva settled on a more conventional path with their young colt. He missed some time with an injury, returned to win two races at Canterbury Park in Minnesota during the summer then ran second to Owendale in the Oklahoma Derby (G3).

After another stakes win at Remington Park, his connections thought he ought to be considered for the 2020 Pegasus World Cup. He didn't have the credentials to warrant an invite and headed off to a campaign of eight races at eight tracks with eight different jockeys. The first victory of the season came at, Fonner Park in Nebraska, a track that rarely hosts Grade 1-caliber horses, in the Bosselman Pump and Pantry/Gus Fonner Stakes. Wins at the Charles Town Classic (G2) in August, the Lafayette at Keeneland in November and the Mr. Prospector earned him a berth in the Pegasus.

“Thank God, this horse is a freak,” Cobb said. “He ships so well and can adapt to where ever he goes. He likes to be there a few weeks ahead of time and get a couple of works under his belt. He never gets sick, nothing, knock on wood.

Cobb said that his stable has grown to the point where he has about 20 horses in training at a time. He also has a group of broodmares and moved into breeding. Sleepy Eyes Todd is the star of the show and has taken the Cobbs and Silva for a ride into racing's major league.

“It's overwhelming to us, yes. It could be life-changing, too,” Cobb said.  “We have been invited to the Saudi Cup, so between these two we're kind of in la-la land right now.

“I'm a pretty humble, modest guy so I keep it in perspective. These next two months could really change things for us. It won't change how we live, but it's exciting nonetheless.”

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