Idiot Proof gets fresh start with Servis

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The summer of 2007 was remarkable at Monmouth Park, with a stakes program dotted with standout performances by stars prepping for that fall's Breeders' Cup.

English Channel, Hystericalady, and Smokey Stover nabbed wins on the Jersey Shore that propelled them to the championship weekend in October.

Perhaps no winner was more dazzling that summer than Idiot Proof, a 7 1/4-length winner of the Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes for 3-year-olds. He ran the six furlongs in 1:07.47 on that July 4 afternoon, establishing a mark that still stands.

Now 5 and a recent transfer to the Jason Servis barn, Idiot Proof returns to Monmouth on Monday for the first time since the 2007 Breeders' Cup Sprint to make his season debut in the $75,000 Icecapade Stakes.

Elvis Trujillo, Monmouth's leading rider, will be aboard as Idiot Proof breaks from post 5 in the 10-horse field going six furlongs.

"The feeling was, he ran so well on this track that they wanted to give him another try," Servis said.

After his Jersey Shore win, Idiot Proof went back to California with trainer Clifford Sise Jr. to win the Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes before returning to Monmouth for a second-place finish in the slop to Midnight Lute in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Idiot Proof went winless in seven tries last year, including a second to Benny the Bull in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen. His form tailed off at the end of the campaign, concluding with a fading seventh in the Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct.

Idiot Proof joined the Servis barn at the end of June following a call out of the blue from breeder-owner Martin Wygod.

"They had freshened him up after last year," Servis said. "Mr. Wygod said he thought the horse would fit good in my barn and that he wanted to send him my way because the horse really likes the track."

The new addition proved to be a handful.

"You can't take your eye off him," Servis said. "He's a good-feeling horse."

Idiot Proof seems to have settled in nicely, working four times here in preparation for his season bow. His sharpest move was a five-furlong bullet, 1:01 on Aug. 15.

Other top contenders in the field include Lantana Mob, the 2007 Sapling winner; Fleet Valid, the Teddy Drone winner on the Haskell Day undercard; and Biker Boy, fourth last time out in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April at Aqueduct. He was cross-entered in an allowance race at Philadelphia Park.

Mystic Miracle finds softer spot

Following a first-level allowance win here, Mystic Miracle headed to Saratoga for what seemed like a reasonable spot: an overnight stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf.

It turned into a tough assignment as Maram, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner, got the win in her first start of the year while Mystic Miracle ran evenly to be seventh.

The competition will not be as challenging here on Monday in the $65,000 Twin Lights Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on grass.

"Getting beat by a Breeders' Cup winner isn't the end of the world," said Rob Rader, assistant to trainer Mark Hennig. "That was surely a tougher spot than here."

Pablo Fragoso will be aboard Mystic Miracle from the rail, just to the inside of Platinum Girl, the likely speed.

Miss Blakely would appreciate firm turf, following a fifth-place finish in the Wonder Where Stakes as the 3-2 favorite on the soft course at Woodbine.