Compliance Officer back in action in the Kingston Stakes
The 6-year-old gelding, Compliance Officer, was acquired by owner Thomas La Marca for $25,000 from Klaravich Stables and trainer Terri Pompay to give him to trainer Bruce Brown, and ever since that, Compliance Officer has hardly put a foot wrong, by losing
just two races in eight starts last year.
At one point last season, Compliance Officer strung together a five race win streak that was when he became the champion New York-bred turf male.
He closed out that winning streak with a win in three stakes races, starting from West Point Handicap at about 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga, where he defeated Karakorum Legend and Pocket Cowboys in the stretch, who finished second and third, respectively.
On his return to Belmont Park, Compliance Officer then downed the Ashley T. Cole Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, and at the same distance the son of Officer won the Mohawk Stakes at Belmont Park to defeat Lubash in second and Adirondack Summer in third with the winning
time of 1 minute and 43.93 seconds.
Bred in New York by Sarah and Kenneth Ramsey, Compliance Officer was expected to turn in a solid performance in the Breeders’ Cup last fall at Churchill Downs, when he participated in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile, but he never showed up in the race and
finished a distant 11th in a field of 13 runners.
Compliance Officer is coming off a winter vacation, and ready to make his seasonal debut in the $125,000 Kingston Stakes at Belmont Park on 27 May, 2012.
Though, he is coming off a six month layoff, Brown is confident of his runner’s chances in the 1 mile turf race.
“It would have been nice to get a race into him, but he’s doing great,” Brown said. “I couldn’t be asking any more from him. He’s really come back like he was never gone.”
Against state-breds, Compliance Officer is a champion, and he will relish his chances even more with a soft turf track, which is likely to be the case on race day.
“The softer the better for him,” Brown said. “He’s run better on good courses than anything.”
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