Proxy still trying to shake bad habits
A couple months into his 5-year-old season and with 15 starts behind him, Proxy remains a work in progress.
After running a thoroughly professional race winning the Grade 1 Clark Stakes last November, Proxy fell out the back door while resenting the kickback before rallying belatedly to finish fifth in the Pegasus World Cup. And this past Saturday, a lack of focus during the middle stages of the race cost Proxy victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
A half-mile from home, Proxy was tootling along eighth of nine, jockey John Velazquez prodding him to improve his position while getting little response as Proxy spun his wheels.
“At the half-mile pole, I thought we had zero-point-zero chance. You can’t give up that kind of ground and still win,” said Michael Stidham, who trains Proxy for Godolphin.
Indeed, Proxy did not win. But, as in the Pegasus, he finished fastest in the Santa Anita Handicap, nabbing second from Defunded and missing victorious Stilleto Boy by a neck.
“I really thought he was past all that. He’s just a horse that resents dirt hitting him in the face. And when they go as fast as they did the other day, he doesn’t want to keep up. He wants to do things at his own pace,” Stidham said.
Proxy was running in spots during the early portion of his 3-year-old campaign, and while the addition of blinkers in the Louisiana Derby and the Lexington Stakes didn’t move him forward, Stidham said he might try them again. “The plan is to work him in blinkers again. We’ve talked about blinkers, cheek pieces – we’ll experiment with some things.”
Stidham said Proxy had come out of the Santa Anita Handicap in excellent condition. The $1 million Oaklawn Handicap on April 22 could mark Proxy’s next start. That would mean turning back to 1 1/8 miles from 1 1/4 miles, but what Proxy really needs to distance himself from are those old detrimental habits.
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