Delaware Derby winner Big Cuddle getting some down time
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Big Cuddle fell off the map shortly after winning the $300,000 Delaware Derby in June, but the 3-year-old colt’s career is far from over. Trainer Gary Capuano said he plans to give him the winter off before getting him back in training in January for his 4-year-old campaign.
“He’s just kind of hanging out,” Capuano said. “He had some bone bruising that we've given him time off for. More than likely, we're going to wait and probably bring him back in when the weather starts getting better.”
Undefeated in two starts as a juvenile, including the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery, Big Cuddle came up short in an allowance in April before winning two straight in stakes company. He upset Final Story in the $100,000 Sir Barton on Preakness Day at Laurel Park before stepping up to win the Delaware Derby the following month.
Capuano said he planned to point the Maryland-bred toward the Haskell in July, but those plans stalled because of setbacks in training. He has not worked since July 1.
“We were looking forward to [the Haskell], but it’s just the way it is,” Capuano said. “The horse just needed some time off, and we’re going to give him all the time he needs. We don’t usually go south for the winter. He could probably start back up now, but then he’d be ready in the dead of winter.”
When the weather in the Mid-Atlantic begins to warm up, Capuano said he hopes to have his once-rising star back in action against stakes rivals. The plan is to target a stakes at Laurel in early spring.
Long-time Charles Town track super retiring
Charles Town announced this week that track superintendent Doug Bowling, who has worked at the West Virginia track for nearly five decades, will retire at the end of this year. Assistant track superintendent Warren Cogle will take over the role.
In a statement published in a press release Monday, Bowling thanked many former and current officials at Charles Town, including former track superintendent Jay Fortney and former general manager of racing operations Dickie Moore. His career at the track began in 1977 in security and then as a valet. He gradually rose through the ranks into track maintenance over time.
“The job is so complex,” Bowling said in the release. “I didn’t know what I was stepping into at the time. Having Jay there to teach me and mentor me was important. Just to have someone to bounce stuff off of. To have someone say, ‘You’re doing the right thing, keep doing it.’
"A racing surface is always tough to manage. Just because it works one place doesn’t mean it works somewhere else. And the biggest challenge at Charles Town is to have it ready for year-round racing in all types of weather. Jay’s expertise in preparing me for that was huge.”
Cogle, Bowling’s assistant since 2012, has worked in Charles Town’s track maintenance department for 20 years.
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