Caribou Club may target Kilroe Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Caribou Club may have his Grade 1 debut in the $400,000 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 9 after winning his second consecutive stakes in Tuesday’s Grade 3 Joe Hernandez on the hillside turf course.

Craig Bernick, whose Glen Hill Farm owns Caribou Club, said on Wednesday that the Kilroe Mile is a logical option for the 5-year-old gelding, who has won five stakes and is trained by Tom Proctor.

Caribou Club closed from last in a field of eight to win the $101,053 Hernandez Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Stormy Liberal, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs in November. Caribou Club earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 105 in the about 6 1/2-furlong Hernandez. Caribou Club won the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 24.

Joe Talamo was aboard for the Hernandez and the Seabiscuit, and said after Tuesday’s race that Caribou Club’s versatility helps at a variety of distances.

“He’s such a cool horse,” Talamo said. “I think six and a half to a mile and a sixteenth, he can really do anything because of his style. They went quick early so he was farther back, but when they go two turns he can lay up a little closer.”

Stormy Liberal is unlikely to race again until the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 30, trainer Peter Miller said. Stormy Liberal was second by a half-length to Jungle Cat in the 2018 Al Quoz. Tuesday’s loss ended a four-race winning streak.