Midwest Thoroughbreds operation enjoys big June

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – After winning the Black Tie Affair Stakes earlier in June with the homebred The Pizza Man, the Midwest Thoroughbreds operation of Rich and Karen Papiese took down the $125,000 Iowa Sprint last Friday night with the Illinois homebred Work All Week.

“We feel good about buying those types of horses, but to have a homebred that runs that well, it’s an even better feeling,” Rich Papiese said. “It’s sort of like having your own minor-league system.”

Work All Week beat Delaunay by a half-length Friday, and he has very quietly put together an excellent career. To go along with an overall record of 12-10-1-0, Work All Week is 8 for 8 in dirt races. He lost his career debut, a two-turn turf race, and was beaten a nose on Polytrack last summer in an Illinois-bred stakes. Work All Week, by City Zip and out of Danzig Matilda, has won his last seven.

“He came back really good, and we’ll sit down at the end of the week with [trainer] Roger [Brueggemann] and go through things,” Papiese said. “We’ll look for a stakes race, maybe a Grade 3 for him. We’ll look to run against open company.”

The Pizza Man, also trained by Brueggemann, has put together an enviable record of his own, winning 10 of 15 starts, including his last three. The Pizza Man, a turf horse, is likely to start next either in the Arlington Handicap or the Stars and Stripes Handicap on July 12, Papiese said.