Mr. Prospector Win Puts Sleepy Eyes Todd in Pegasus Mix
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King
Sleepy Eyes Todd wins the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park
He's raced at Fonner Park, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Canterbury Park, and Remington Park, to name some of the 11 racetracks he has visited in a 15-race career.
He's been tested at 6 12 furlongs, 1 1/8 miles, and 1 1/2 miles on turf.
Yet after a little more than two years of racing, Sleepy Eyes Todd has finally found some stability—at least for the rest of the year.
After winning the Lafayette Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select at Keeneland in his last start—and first stab at seven furlongs—Thumbs Up Racing's son of Paddy O'Prado made it two in a row at a seven-furlong distance Dec. 19 by turning aside grade 1 winner Firenze Fire in the stretch to capture the $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
"He's always been a nice horse and we've always believed in him," trainer Miguel Angel Silva said. "I'm thankful to the owner for letting us do the job and take the horse everywhere and just have some fun with him. He's the best horse we've ever had and hopefully we can have some more fun."
True to his resume, stability will not last long for the grade 2 winner. Though he will remain at Gulfstream Park, instead of sticking to sprinting, Silva plans to stretch Sleepy Eyes Todd out around two turns and run him Jan. 23 in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1).
"That's the plan," Silva said about the Pegasus. "That's what we're here for."
Sleepy Eyes Todd is already a graded stakes winner at the nine-furlong distance of the Pegasus, but that victory came earlier this year when he triumphed in the Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2). When he tackled the likes of Improbable and Maximum Security in the 1 1/8-mile Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park, he was fifth and last, 12 1/4 lengths behind Improbable.
In the Mr. Prospector, jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who was aboard the colt for the first time, worked his way up from fifth in the field of 12 and moved with favored Firenze Fire past the tiring leader Wind of Change in the final furlong. In a two-horse duel to the wire in 1:21.67, Sleepy Eyes Todd prevailed by a half-length.
Firenze Fire, a homebred son of Poseidon's Warrior trained by Kelly Breen who was coming off a third in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), was 2 3/4 lengths ahead of multiple grade 1 winner Mind Control, a Stay Thirsty 4-year-old owned by Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables and trained by Gregg Sacco.
Bred by Two Hearts Farm and Kristen Goncharoff out of the Wild Rush mare Pledge Mom, Sleepy Eyes Todd ($12.20) was victorious for the eighth time in 15 starts and increased his earnings to $744,825—a hefty total for a colt bought for $9,000 by Jonathan Wong from Legacy Bloodstock's consignment to the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
Pledge Mom has also produced a stakes winner and a total of eight winners from nine foals to race.