Proxy works well in blinkers for Louisiana Derby

Mystic Guide’s romping victory Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn definitely was the high point of the week for trainer Mike Stidham’s stable, but Friday morning at Fair Grounds yielded an encouraging result, too.

The day before Mystic Guide blew the doors off the Razorback Handicap, looking like a leading older dirt horse of 2021, Proxy worked a bullet half-mile in 47 seconds. This was Proxy’s first workout since his second-place finish Feb. 13 in the Risen Star Stakes, and more importantly it was his first work ever wearing blinkers. Stidham said the day after the Risen Star, where Proxy came off the bridle at the half-mile pole before refocusing and racing effectively through the homestretch, that he wanted to try Proxy in blinkers. They went on for the first time Friday and produced the desired effect.

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“He sat off another horse and came right up to that horse without shying away or hesitating, where in some of his other works it seemed like he was looking at the other horse,” Stidham said. “It gave me the confidence to make the equipment change for the Louisiana Derby.”

Proxy worked in company with Pallio, a once-started Ontario-bred who Stidham and owner David Ross hope is good enough to get to the Queen’s Plate. Exercise rider Osman Cano, who has been aboard Proxy for morning exercise since he came into the Stidham barn well over a year ago, worked Proxy and “gave a big thumbs up” after the drill, Stidham said.

Godolphin owns both Mystic Guide and Proxy, a son of Tapit and Panty Raid, who won Grade 1s at 1 1/8 miles on dirt (Spinster) and 1 1/4 miles on turf (American Oaks). Pixelate, another Godolphin horse, most recently was a close fifth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf and remains on course for the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial on the Louisiana Derby undercard.