NEWS
Road to the Triple Crown:
Capt. Candyman Can still learning
Posted: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 6:38 PM
CAPT. CANDYMAN CAN
Reed Palmer photo
by Jeff Lowe
Much like his mentor and former boss, Carl Nafzger, education is the name of the game for Ian Wilkes, the trainer of Iroquois (G3) and Hutcheson (G2) Stakes winner Capt. Candyman Can.
If not for a half-length deficit at the finish of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) on November 29, Capt. Candyman Can would carry three straight graded strakes wins into the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
But coming up a bit short at Churchill Downs was a key factor in Wilkes’s decision to have Capt. Candyman Can begin his three-year-old season with a pair of one-turn starts, for educational purposes, in the seven-furlong Hutcheson and one-mile Fountain of Youth.
“It just suited this type of horse,” Wilkes said. “I had a horse at Churchill that was rank, that didn’t relax the way I wanted. So I just thought he needed some more lessons of running one turn before I stretched him out to two turns.
“I’m not worried about where he is in a race, I just want him to relax. You can’t run that far being on the bit, running as hard as you can from the start. There are just too many good horses you have to run against.”
Capt. Candyman Can did relax along rail in the Hutcheson before kicking in with a sustained drive to pass Hello Broadway and win by 1½ lengths under jockey Julien Leparoux.
Wilkes will look for a similar method, not just the outcome, on Saturday as he formulates a gradual progression leading up to the Triple Crown.
“The same thing as last time, I want him to listen to Julien,” Wilkes said. “I’m not worried about where he is. We’ll see how it plays out. We’ve got this race first at a mile, and then his next race will be [at] a mile and an eighth. This horse has got to keep progressing the right way.”
Wilkes knows the way to the Kentucky Derby (G1) from his close relationship with Nafzger. Wilkes was the regular exercise rider for Unbridled, who scored for Nafzger in the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
Wilkes began training on his own in November 2005, but he and Nafzger still work together out of the same barn. Wilkes’s wife, Tracey, was the regular exercise rider for Street Sense, who thrived with a patient approach while becoming Nafzger’s second Derby winner in 2007.
Southern California trainer Julio Canani also has a penchant for patience, which is one reason he has never had a Derby starter.
Canani could take a step closer on Saturday when The Pamplemousse stretches out to 1 1/8 miles in the Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park.
The Kafwain colt is coming off a sharp victory at a mile in the San Rafael Stakes (G3) on January 19 in his stakes debut. He scored a maiden win at 1 1/16 miles on December 14 at Hollywood Park in his third career start.
“The way he galloped out when he broke his maiden, it looked like he would go a little farther,” Canani said. “He’ll have to tell us though.
“Every race, he’s gotten better, more professional. He’s still growing. He looks bigger every race. Believe me, he’s bigger [since the San Rafael].”
Gulfstream allowance winner Take the Points is cross-entered in the Fountain of Youth and Sham. The Even the Score colt drew the outside post in a field of 12 for the Sham. Chris DeCarlo is named to ride him at Gulfstream. Garrett Gomez has the mount at Santa Anita.
Take the Points was scheduled to be shipped from Florida to Southern California on Wednesday, but the flight was postponed due to mechanical problems with the plane. Pletcher said if the flight leaves on Thursday morning, Take the Points will contest the Sham.
In other news, Futurity Stakes (G2) winner Charitable Man breezed four furlongs in :49.40 on Wednesday in his third workout since returning to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s barn. The Lemon Drop Kid colt is coming back from a saucer fracture in his left shin.
Zensational may join stablemate Pioneerof the Nile in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) on March 14, trainer Bob Baffert said. Zayat Stables owns both colts. Zensational, by Unbridled’s Song, was a striking maiden winner on Saturday at Santa Anita in his second career start.
To view the THOROUGHBRED TIMES's Road to the Triple Crown website, click here.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
