Grade 1-winning sprinter IDIOT PROOF (Benchmark) will make his belated 2009
debut in Monday’s $75,000
Icecapade S. at Monmouth Park. The five-year-old, who has not raced since
his subpar seventh-place effort in the Fall Highweight H. at Aqueduct last
November, has since been transferred to Monmouth-based trainer Jason Servis.
Owner/breeders Pam and Martin Wygod decided to let Idiot Proof pitch camp at
Monmouth, considering his two terrific performances at the Jersey Shore in 2007.
The California-bred set the six-furlong track record of 1:07.47 when romping in
the Jersey Shore S. (G3), and in his only subsequent appearance here, he
reported home second to champion Midnight Lute in that season’s Breeders’ Cup
Sprint (G1).
“Mr. Wygod called me one day in June,” Servis said, “and said he wanted to
get the horse back to where he had run so well, and that he thought Idiot Proof
would fit well in my barn. I was excited then, and I still am.”
The six-furlong Icecapade will be the first step in an ambitious plan for
Idiot Proof, which includes some major sprint stakes in the East this fall,
including the Vosburgh S. (G1) at Belmont Park on October 3.
“They gave him some time off after the Fall Highweight last year,” Servis
said. “He went back into training in California this spring, and then I got him
the end of June. He’s been training at Monmouth for the last two months and he’s
really doing well.”
Idiot Proof has been looking good in his return to Monmouth, and his worktab
includes a bullet five furlongs in 1:01 on August 15. He blew out for the
Icecapade with a half-mile in :48 3/5 on Wednesday.
“He’s a handful,” Servis said, “but a good handful. He’s a good-feeling horse
all the time.
“He hasn’t run in a while, so this race will help him a lot.”
Last year, Idiot Proof’s ambitious schedule included the Dubai Golden Shaheen
(UAE-G1) in March, where he ran a good second to champion Benny the Bull (Lucky
Lionel), and the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Sprint run over the synthetic track at Santa
Anita in October, where he finished 13th.
Idiot Proof will face nine rivals in the Icecapade, including FLEET VALID (Montbrook),
who exits a score in the Teddy Drone S. at this track and trip; BIKER BOY (Came
Home), last seen finishing fourth in the Carter H. (G1) for Nick Zito; Donald
LeVine Memorial H. runner-up CASSOULET (Distorted Humor); and sprint stakes
veterans DEVEREUX (Forestry) and LANTANA MOB (Posse).
One race earlier on the Labor Day program, nine sophomore fillies will travel
1 1/8 grassy miles in the $65,000
Twin
Lights S. Among the top threats are Boynton Beach S. victress MISS BLAKELY
(Smart Strike), who cuts back in trip off an even fifth in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder
Where S. at Woodbine; Desert Vixen S. winner BECKY’S EXCHANGE (Exchange Rate);
and Saratoga shippers REDREAMIT (Tapit) and BUM BUM (Fr) (Giant’s Causeway).