Proxy looking sharp for Pegasus World Cup bid
The 5-year-old horse Proxy displayed early ability, finishing second in a pair of 2021 Fair Grounds 3-year-old stakes, the Lecomte and the Risen Star, but even while racing competitively against good horses like Midnight Bourbon and Mandaloun, Proxy didn’t truly have his mind in the game.
Trainer Michael Stidham added blinkers to the colt’s race-day equipment to no great effect and Proxy finished fourth in the Louisiana Derby and Lexington Stakes two Aprils ago at Keeneland, his last start until February 2022.
Blinkers were off when Proxy returned to racing and by the end of last year the light bulb had gone on: After a series of seconds and thirds in graded stakes company, Proxy won the Grade 1 Clark on Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs. The Clark and the Stephen Foster in June were Proxy’s two best races, and he might yet have more improvement to come.
“I really, really could not be happier with the way he’s doing,” said Stidham, who trains Proxy for his breeder, Godolphin. “He just came out of the Clark in great shape and has been working really well.”
After the Clark, Proxy got back on the Fair Grounds work tab Dec. 10, breezing again Dec. 18 and Dec. 27. On Jan. 7, he went five furlongs in 1:00, second-best among 46 drills at the distance.
“He worked behind another horse, went right on by at the wire, then galloped out huge. We pressed on him a little in that work and he came out of it good,” Stidham said.
The signals suggest Proxy could hit another peak in the biggest race of his career, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28. Primary rival Cyberknife, a Fair Grounds-based 4-year-old training toward his career finale in the Pegasus, has so far been faster than Proxy, but perhaps it’s the older horse who has more room to step forward later this month.
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