Indy Point’s connections learned lesson from Arlington
Million
Argentinean import Indy Point galloped Thursday morning for trainer Richard
Mandella as he continues to move forward toward Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Since Indy Point’s trip north to Mandella’s barn in California this year,
he’s started three times, winning twice and finishing far back on the other
occasion. Each time he’s been handled by the veteran Gary Stevens.
Mandella was asked about pre-race plans between himself and Stevens
concerning Indy Point.
“I won’t be telling him much,” Mandella said. “He knows him now. We learned a
lesson with this horse in Chicago (in the Arlington Million where he finished
last of 13). We took a hold of him away from the gate and got him all mad and
into all sorts of trouble.
“But in his last race (a winning effort in the John Henry Turf Championship
at Santa Anita), we just dropped his head and he went right on with it. You make
a mistake and you learn from it. At least you hope you do.”
Little Mike, the defending Turf champion, had his penultimate training day
just after the break Thursday as he attempts to become only the third horse in
30 years to win the Turf twice. The only other horses to accomplish this are
Conduit and High Chaparral.
“This is really exciting,” owner Carlo Vaccarezza said. “It’s quite an
accomplishment to get a horse back here healthy and in top form.”
Phipps Stable’s Point of Entry, runner-up to Little Mike last year, prepared
for a return from a five-month layoff in the Turf by galloping 1 1/2 miles
Thursday morning.
After the five-year-old son of Dynaformer cooled out, assistant trainer Gene
Recio led him to the edge of the horse path leading to the track, where the
multiple Grade 1 winner stood quietly while observing the activity around him.
“It was just leaving him out of his stall a little while. We hosed him for a
little while and instead of putting him back in the stall we decided to let him
stand in the sun,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “If we were in New York, we’d be
grazing him. But there’s no grass here to graze. But he likes standing in the
sun.”
McGaughey hopes the 2012 Turf runner-up has his day in the sun on Saturday
afternoon.
“I think he deserves to win a race like this. Is the layoff a concern? Maybe.
But I think we’ve got him where we want him. He gets better every day,”
McGaughey said. “I think he’s fit enough, but we won’t know until Saturday
afternoon. I’m looking forward to it.”
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