Stidham: Draw a line through Proxy's Pegasus performance

Proxy, making his first start since winning the Grade 1 Clark in November, finished fifth, beaten more than seven lengths, in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream.

Don’t hold the defeat against him. His trainer, Michael Stidham, certainly doesn’t.

“It was just what I talked about going into the race having the one hole. He took all the dirt, and there was a lot of kickback. He was climbing badly all the way down the backstretch. The only chance he got to run was when [jockey Joel Rosario] got him outside turning for home. And then he was the only horse to make up any ground at all,” Stidham said.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets.

That’s a fair description of events. Proxy had one horse beaten and was far, far off the leader with a quarter-mile to run before going strongly to the wire to miss fourth place by a half-length. Only two horses among a dozen in the Pegasus ran their final furlong faster than 13.28 seconds; victorious Art Collector went 12.79, Proxy 12.43.

“For me, I draw a line through it because he never had a chance to run his race,” said Stidham. “He’s back in New Orleans, came out of the race in great shape.”

Proxy, a 5-year-old Godolphin homebred, has several next-start options, though Stidham said he’s not inclined to run the horse back during February. Proxy could stay at Fair Grounds for the New Orleans Classic and also could be considered for a trip to California for the Santa Anita Handicap. A longer journey, to the Dubai World Cup, hasn’t been ruled out, either.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.