Lovesick Blues could return in Thor’s Echo

Lovesick Blues, a 2025 Grade 1 winner who was unplaced in two $2 million sprints in Saudi Arabia and Dubai in recent months, is scheduled to return to trainer Librado Barocio’s California stable in coming days.

It may not be long before Lovesick Blues is back in action.

Barocio said earlier this week that he hopes to start Lovesick Blues in the $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for California-breds at six furlongs at Santa Anita on May 23.

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Owned by Barocio’s Mi Familia Stable, Lovesick Blues finished fifth of 13 in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14, and eighth of 12 in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates last Saturday.

Once Lovesick Blues arrives in California, the 8-year-old gelding will have a “couple of weeks off,” Barocio said.

The rest will not be lengthy.

“I’ll give him two weeks of walking,” Barocio said. “I’ll keep him in a light training mode. I won’t let him out of training.”

Lovesick Blues is best known for winning the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar last July, a race that again figures to be part of the gelding’s schedule this year.

In the Golden Shaheen, Lovesick Blues finished 11 3/4 lengths behind Dark Saffron. Lovesick Blues was ridden for the first time by Mickael Barzalona, who is based in Europe.

Lovesick Blues was toward the back of the field in the early furlongs. Barzalona told Barocio that Lovesick Blues resented the dirt kickback.

“He said he broke a little slow and that dirt was not his friend,” Barocio said. “By the time he got him straightened out, it was too late.”

Lovesick Blues was fitted with blinkers, which are likely to come off for the Thor’s Echo.

“I might have made a mistake by putting the blinkers on,” Barocio said.

Lovesick Blues was the 2025 California-bred Horse of the Year, a season in which he won 2 of 7 starts and earned $398,000. There is ample time to win the same award this year.

“I still think he has a lot in him,” Barocio said.

For a $100,000 race, the Thor’s Echo could draw a small but tough field. Trainer Jeff Mullins recently mentioned the race as a potential goal for Man O Rose, who has won six stakes, including five for California-breds, since September 2024.

Man O Rose was third as the 2-5 favorite behind Flyover in the Sensational Star Stakes for statebreds on the hillside turf course on March 22.

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