Sleepy Eyes Todd leads all the way in Bosselman

The era of coronavirus, with its attendant paucity of racing opportunities this spring, brought jockey Quincy Hamilton, trainer Miguel Silva, and a 4-year-old colt named Sleepy Eyes Todd to Fonner Park in Grand Island, Neb., for the first time. The two humans and a horse will be leaving with Fonner’s biggest prize – a win in the $50,000 Bosselman Pump and Pantry/Gus Fonner Stakes on Wednesday.

Sleepy Eyes Todd bolted straight to the lead in the three-turn, 1 1/16-mile Bosselman, and no one ever got near him. Sleepy Eyes Todd never had raced around a small bullring style oval, let alone a tiny five-furlong track like Fonner’s, but the colt handled like a sweet dream through Fonner’s tight, banked turns, and when Hamilton straightened for home, the finish just 700 feet from the top of the stretch, the Bosselman was over.

Sleepy Eyes Todd cruised under the wire an alarmingly easy winner, beating runner-up Blue Harbor by 6 1/2 lengths while stopping the timer in 1:44.40 over a fast track. Blue Harbor had a half-length on his Marissa Black-trained stablemate Mr. Tickle. Sleepy Eyes Todd paid $4.80 to win as the narrow favorite over Pendleton, who broke flat-footed, got caught wide on the first two turns, and was out of contention before hitting the final bend.

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It was Sleepy Eyes Todd’s suitability to the unusual Fonner track configuration that was in some doubt, not his credentials. At his best as a 3-year-old, Sleepy Eyes Todd finished a good second to the talented Owendale in the Oklahoma Derby and on Dec. 11 at Remington beat accomplished older horses in a six-figure stakes race. His 12-furlong turf try in the Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston was both a dud and a throw-out, and for whatever reason, Sleepy Eyes Todd didn’t fire his best shot finishing sixth in the Mineshaft Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds, his most recent race.

His opponents in New Orleans, of course, were far more formidable than the foes awaiting in Grand Island, and Sleepy Eyes Todd awoke Wednesday morning in a Nebraska state of mind.

Silva, who shipped his horse from Sam Houston Race Park, trains Sleepy Eyes Todd for David Cobb’s Thumbs Up Racing. Sleepy Eyes Todd was purchased by California-based trainer Jonathan Wong for just $9,000 as a weanling in 2016. He’s by Paddy O’Prado and out of Pledge Mom, by Wild Rush, and now has won half his 10 starts with earnings just less than $250,000.

Wednesday was the original closing day of the Fonner meet, but the Nebraska Racing Commission last week granted Fonner’s request to extend its season 12 more racing days in May. The continuation of the Fonner meeting was deemed the best option to continue racing in Nebraska rather than shifting venues to Horsemen’s Park or Columbus Park. Fonner’s jackpot-style late pick five was therefore made a mandatory-payoff wager Wednesday and returned $1,470 per 50-cent winning ticket.