Proxy Among Those Working Ahead of Breeders' Cup

Godolphin's homebred grade 1 winner Proxy   had his final serious drill Oct. 22 at Keeneland for an expected start in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to be held Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park. The 5-year-old son of Tapit   breezed 5 furlongs in 1:02 on a fast track with regular jockey Joel Rosario in the saddle. 

The plan was to go in company with Godolphin's unraced 2-year-old colt Surveyor , but the duo was unexpectedly joined by workers from other trainers. Despite the surprise, trainer Mike Stidham, Godolphin chief operating officer Dan Pride and director of bloodstock Michael Banahan were all smiles watching from the Grandstand.

"The main thing we were looking for today was that we would let him break off a little bit behind," Stidham said. "The other horses getting in there was not planned. That just happened. It turned out to be four horses working together. And when Joel took him out—and got him out in the clear—that's what we wanted to see. He needed that type of work; that was the most important work."

Stidham said Proxy will have a lesser workout Oct. 28 or Oct. 29 before shipping to Santa Anita Oct. 30. Pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup World Championships will be announced Oct. 25, and post positions will be drawn Oct. 30. 

"Next week will be less of a blowout for the Breeders' Cup," Stidham said about Proxy's next assignment. "Today's work was exactly what we were looking for. He handled it well and galloped out great and did everything right. We couldn't be happier."

Proxy was outfitted with his usual brown cheekpieces that he wears in his races. The equipment, which is more popular in Europe than the U.S., have a similar effect as blinkers.

"When he was a 3-year-old, we had experimented with the blinkers, but we didn't think that they made a huge difference," Stidham said. "We've used the cheekpieces on a few horses over the years, and they're just a bit more of a subtle change than actual blinker cups. They just take away the rear view, and they allow the horse to still have the peripheral view. We tried them in the morning; we thought that maybe they could help him to focus a little bit. And then we used them in the race and obviously, he's been running well with them, so we're not going to try anything new."

Sunday's breeze was Proxy's third at Keeneland. He went 5 furlongs in 1:01 Oct. 7 and 6 furlongs in 1:15.20 six days later.  

Winner of the 2022 Clark (G1), Proxy has two wins in six starts this year. He took the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) in April and the Monmouth Cup (G3) in July. Proxy most recently finished a nose behind Classic candidate Bright Future  in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) Sept. 2 at Saratoga. An earner of $2.2 million with his 6-7-2 record from 19 starts, Proxy is scheduled to begin his stallion career in 2024 at Godolphin's Darley America at Jonabell Farm in Lexington. 

Other works

Peter Brant's Gina Romantica , winner of the Oct. 7 First Lady (G1T), worked a half-mile in :50 in company with Lady De Berry  over the fast main track for trainer Chad Brown. 

"She worked good," said Baldo Hernandez, assistant to Brown who noted that Gina Romantica has had most of her workouts on dirt during her career. "She'll work again next weekend and may work on the grass with In Italian (GB). That's to be determined." 

Both Gina Romantica and In Italian  are scheduled to ship to Santa Anita Oct. 30 for the Breeders' Cup. Pre-entries for the Nov. 3-4 World Championships close Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. ET. 

Also working toward a possible Breeders' Cup start in the $2 million Qatar Racing Sprint (G1) was Nakatomi  for trainer Wesley Ward. Runner-up in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) Oct. 6, Nakatomi breezed 5 furlongs in 1:00.60, the fastest of 32 at the distance for the morning.