NEWS
Capt. Candyman Can takes Hutcheson
Posted: Friday, January 30, 2009 4:57 PM
CAPT. CANDYMAN CAN
Adam Coglianese photo
by Jeff Apel
Capt. Candyman Can gained command four wide approaching the stretch and posted a 1½-length win in the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes (G2) on Friday at Gulfstream Park.
Capt. Candyman Can dueled near the inside rail with runner-up Hello Broadway in the early stages of the seven-furlong race for classics hopefuls. After being eased back by Julien Leparoux, Capt. Candyman Can was angled to the outside on the turn, and gamely prevailed.
“He was very good today,” Leparoux said. “I was able to back him off and take him to the outside. It wasn’t a problem. I wanted to keep him in the clear from there.”
Leparoux said it is too early to start thinking about the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) for Capt. Candyman Can, who entered off a third-place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) on November 29 at Churchill Downs.
“A lot can happen between now and May. We still have a lot to do,” Leparoux said. “The big difference was today he listened. His last race, he went to the front and wouldn’t listen. Today, he was good.”
Trainer Ian Wilkes mentioned the $250,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) on February 28 at Gulfstream as the next possible start for Capt. Candyman Can, a Candy Ride (Arg) gelding owned and co-bred by Joseph Rauch and David Zell.
“All we were looking for from him today was to relax,” Wilkes said. “We’ve been teaching him to [relax] in the mornings, but until they do it in the afternoon, you don’t know whether they get it.”
Hello Broadway led Capt. Candyman Can by a head through an opening quarter-mile in :23.76. Capt. Candyman Can dropped back to third through a half-mile in :46.14, more than a length off the pace.
Angled four wide on the turn, Capt. Candyman Can quickly gained command, opened a half-length lead in early stretch, and won in 1:23.69 on a track rated as fast.
Hello Broadway, the 2-to-1 favorite in the field of six, finished 4 1/2 lengths clear of third-place finisher Bee Cee Cee.
Capt. Candyman Can earned his first stakes win in the 2008 Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill.
Capt. Candyman Can posted his third win in five starts and increased his earnings to $211,645. Bred in Kentucky, Capt. Candyman Can is the first starter out of stakes winner Stormy May, by Storm Creek.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Jeff Apel is an assistant editor of Thoroughbred Times TODAY
