Sleep Eyes Todd back in Texas after Bosselman win

Trainer Miguel Angel Silva on Friday afternoon was driving a truck pulling a horse van from Fonner Park to Sam Houston Race Park. The horse behind him was Sleepy Eyes Todd, who on Wednesday had won the $50,000 Bosselman Pump and Pantry / Gus Fonner Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths.

“That was my first time at Fonner,” Silva said. “Obviously, I love it now.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd never had raced around a small bullring racetrack like Fonner’s, and frankly, Silva was far from certain his horse would like the experience.

“I was very worried about it, and I almost talked my owner out of the race because of the bullring,” Silva said.

Sleepy Eyes Todd skipped around Fonner’s five-furlong oval like he’d been doing it all his life. He made a clear lead, never was challenged, and earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure for his first win as a 4-year-old.

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Late last year, Sleepy Eyes Todd hit peak form finishing second to Owendale in the Oklahoma Derby, earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure and beating older horses in a six-figure stakes there, getting a 95.

Silva said he made two mistakes with Sleepy Eyes Todd earlier this year, trying him over 1 1/2 miles on turf in the John B. Connally Stakes, then running him back 20 days later in the Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds. Sleepy Eyes Todd ran below his best both starts, and Silva said it was important shipping five days from the race at Fonner rather than two days before the Mineshaft. Silva also took blinkers off Sleepy Eyes Todd for the Bosselman and believed that helped his horse’s performance.

David Cobb, who’s nom de course is Thumbs Up Racing, owns Sleepy Eyes Todd, and it was Cobb, Silva said, who picked him out as a mere $10,000 yearling purchase. Sleepy Eyes Todd, who is by Paddy O’Prado out of Pledge Mom, by Wild Rush, is approaching a quarter-million dollars in career earnings.

Silva is set to split his stable between Lone Star Park in Texas and Canterbury Park in Minnesota, but as for Sleepy Eyes Todd, no plans have been laid – nor can they be right now.

“Like everybody else right now, we’re hoping the racetracks open back up,” Silva said.

Fonner was open, and all the Sleepy Eyes Todd folks enjoyed their visit.