A different kind of Belmont Day for Reddam

Paul Reddam will not be at Belmont Park on Saturday with his Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, who was knocked out of the final leg of the Triple Crown after running a minor temperature following his runner-up effort in the Preakness Stakes. But the prominent owner’s purple and white silks are still vying to appear in the Belmont winner’s circle, as he will send out homebred Mrazek in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters on the undercard.

California-bred Mrazek is among the stakes winners who have rewarded Reddam’s faith in his talented but unlucky Square Eddie, now standing at Ocean Breeze Ranch in Bonsall, Calif. Square Eddie was Group 3-placed in England as a juvenile before Reddam brought him to the U.S., where he won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He was multiple graded stakes-placed in 2009, although his season was marked by disappointment – he missed the Triple Crown series due to cannon bone issues, and was later retired with a suspensory injury. Reddam backed Square Eddie with his own mares during the horse’s initial season in 2010 – producing a small crop that, led by multiple stakes winner Sprouts, made Square Eddie California’s leading freshman sire of 2013.

Recovered from his suspensory injury, Square Eddie made a brief return to the races in 2011, establishing a track record at Santa Anita before going winless the rest of the season. He finally returned to farm life for good for the 2012 season, and has firmly established himself in the Golden State. Led by Grade 1 winner Ralis and stakes winners Found Money and Mrazek, all of whom run as homebreds for Reddam, he finished as California’s leading juvenile sire of 2015.

Mrazek has never finished worse than second, and defeated Ralis by 3 ¼ lengths in the Graduation Stakes last year at Del Mar. He most recently finished second by a neck in the Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes on May 14 at Santa Anita, his graded stakes debut.