Trainer Tony Dutrow said Cypress Creek Equine's Un Ojo will target races going beyond a mile following his game runner-up effort going seven furlongs in Saturday's $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series for eligible state-sired juveniles at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.
Un Ojo, who made his first start for trainer Dutrow in the Great White Way, has shown improvement across his four starts this year, breaking his maiden at second asking and finishing fourth in the Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., in his first try at the stakes level.
“When I went over him this morning, he seemed very good,” Dutrow said. “I was extremely happy that he continues to improve. You can see in each race that he keeps getting a little better. And he continued that pattern yesterday. He was ridden impeccably too.”
The son of Laoban, who is missing his left eye, was piloted from the outermost post 11 by jockey Trevor McCarthy and raced three-wide down the backstretch before being swung to the center of the racetrack between rivals in the turn and making a bid for the lead at the top of the stretch.
With urging from McCarthy, Un Ojo closed the gap between him and pacesetter Unique Unions but lost momentum when eventual winner Geno drifted out and brushed up against Un Ojo's eyeless left side and defeated the gelding by a half-length. With both an objection from McCarthy and a steward's inquiry resulting in no change to the order of finish, Dutrow said he was not upset with the ruling by the stewards.
“At 63 and having done nothing but horse racing my entire life, I've seen those calls yesterday go either way,” Dutrow said. “The stewards don't have an easy job; nothing is easy with horses. Should the horse have stayed up? Sure. If the horse had been taken down, would that have surprised me? No. But I'm not complaining. I don't have a problem with them keeping the horse up.”
Dutrow believes that Un Ojo's lack of vision might have contributed to his loss of momentum.
“I strongly think that if Un Ojo had both eyes, that little bump wouldn't have done anything to him,” said Dutrow. “As I was watching it, I really thought he was going by [Geno]. Then we saw the head-on and at the bump, his momentum stopped. And I do think it's because he has no left eye. When he's bumped, he doesn't know what is going on. So he was startled and if he had been able to see the horse coming in, I don't think it would have been a problem.”
Un Ojo is out of the multiple stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Risk a Chance, who herself is out of graded stakes-winning mare Seeking the Ante. Dutrow said he is confident that the dark bay's pedigree will allow him to stretch out going forward.
“I think the horse is crying to go a mile or a mile and an eighth,” said Dutrow. “I don't think there's a question about that being out of an A.P. Indy mare. I believe strongly that he can't wait for that. We've got no plans for him to be a six- or seven-furlong horse. I did learn that he's a decent enough horse to overcome a distance he does not prefer.”
Dutrow said he does not have a specific race circled on the calendar yet for Un Ojo.
“We aren't going to make the Jerome [on January 1] and I haven't really looked into it yet or talked to the client,” said Dutrow. “We would have to consider something at a mile and an eighth in February next.”
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