Connections Aiming Proxy to Stephen Foster

Proxy , winner of the April 22 Oaklawn Handicap (G2), will point to the July 1 Stephen Foster (G1) at Churchill Downs as his next major objective, trainer Michael Stidham said. If all goes according to plan, Stidham would take Godolphin's homebred son of Tapit   to Saratoga before aiming for the ultimate season-ending prize at Santa Anita Park.

"Our goal is to try and be around at the end of the year for the Breeders' Cup (Classic)," Stidham said.

Proxy won the Oaklawn Handicap despite losing focus multiple times during the race, a recurring issue that has frustrated Stidham but also gives reason to think even better efforts are possible. Last time out Stidham outfitted Proxy in cheek pieces, which may or may not have made a positive impact but will probably stick around coming off a win. 

"As trainers, we're always trying to get that little bit extra that we need," Stidham said. "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."

The Oaklawn Park score moved Proxy's record to 5-6-2 from 16 lifetime starts and increased his earnings to $1,775,970. Proxy is out of multiple Grade 1 winner Panty Raid . Proxy already has a point in his favor for the Foster, having scored his biggest career victory to date over the surface in the $750,000 Clark Stakes (G1) last fall.

The $1 million Foster for older horses is a 1 1/8-mile race that could feature a rematch between the top three finishers in the Oaklawn Handicap.

D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Fame trainer of Oaklawn Handicap runner-up Last Samurai , said following the race that "we'll probably look at the Stephen Foster next." Third place 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.