Fear the Cowboy to get long break on farm

Fear the Cowboy, the $1.7 million earner who ran third in last month’s Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap, is going into “hibernation” for the remainder of the summer, said trainer Efren Loza Jr.

“We’re going to give him a rest,” Loza said.

Fear the Cowboy returned to his Ocala, Fla., base after the Lone Star Park Handicap. The five-time stakes winner races for Kathleen Amaya and Raffaele Centofanti.

“We’re going to put him on the owners’ farm, give him four months off, and probably try to run at the end of the year,” Loza said. “It’s time to give him time off. He needs that.”

Fear the Cowboy had a productive winter-spring campaign, winning the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday in December at Gulfstream with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 105, and running fourth there in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January. From there, Fear the Cowboy ran third in a trio of graded stakes, the Santa Anita Handicap, the Charles Town Classic, and the Lone Star Park Handicap in his most recent start May 26.

“He always tries so hard,” said Loza.

Fear the Cowboy is a ridgling by Cowboy Cal. He has won nine of 31 starts, including Grade 3 Skip Away, the West Virginia Governor’s Stakes, and the Evangeline Downs Mile.

◗ The Lone Star Park Racing Club won with its first starter June 2, when Lodi Street captured a $6,250 claiming sprint as the favorite. Lane Luzzi was aboard Lodi Street for trainer J.R. Caldwell. There are 80 members of the club Lone Star created at this meet to promote racehorse ownership. Lodi Street was a $4,000 claim by the club May 19, and he was claimed June 2.

◗ The Texas Racing Commission will discuss amendments to a handful of rules during a meeting Tuesday.