Thumbs Up Racing LLC's Sleepy Eyes Todd pulled ahead in the final furlong to win the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. in front of 5-2 favorite, Firenze Fire.
Fourth-place finisher Wind of Change took the early lead setting the pace through fractions of :22.07, :44.35, and 1:09.05 on a fast track. Sent off at odds of 5-1, Sleepy Eyes Todd charged to the lead in the stretch followed closely by Firenze Fire, but held him off to win the seven-furlong race by a half-length with a final time of 1:21.67. Mind Control took third followed by Wind of Change. Sleepy Eyes Todd returned $12.20 on a $2 win bet.
This is the second graded stakes win for the 4-year-old son of Paddy O'Prado out of the Wild Rush mare, Pledge Mom. He is trained by Miguel Silva and was ridden to victory by Tyler Gaffalione. Prior to today, Sleepy Eyes Todd had won 7 of 14 starts for Silva including the G2 Charles Town Classic Stakes. Sleepy Eyes Todd was bred in Kentucky by Two Hearts Farm LLC and Kristen Goncharoff and sold as a weanling at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $9,000.
“This is the best horse we've ever had,” Silva said. “We've always been high on him. We wanted to take him to the Kentucky Derby [last year] but he had a little issue and we had to stop with him. He's always been a nice horse. We've always believed in him,”
Silva confirmed in a post-race interview that he plans to run Sleepy Eyes Todd in the G1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park Jan. 23.
“Everything set up perfectly,” said Gaffalione. “He broke well and put himself in the race. I was able to get a nice tracking spot inside. He gave me all the confidence going into the stretch and once he found a spot he accelerated and finished the job. All the credit goes to the trainer. He did a fabulous job getting him ready for today.”
“To be honest, if you look at his form he's run in all the big races across the country and he's run at every track and he takes his form with him everywhere he goes, so you know he's consistent and he shows up every time,” he added. “We just had to work out a trip. I thought I'd be tracking Firenze Fire but I wound up a little bit in front of him which I didn't mind, and got the jump on him.”
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